Book Description

She is best known for her curve, the witch of Agnesi, which appears in almost all high school and undergraduate math books. She was a child prodigy who frequented the salon circuit, discussing mathematics, philosophy, history, and music in multiple languages. She wrote one of the first vernacular textbooks on calculus and was appointed chair of mathematics at the university in Bologna. In later years, however, she became a prominent figure within the Catholic Enlightenment, gave up the academic world, and devoted herself to the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the homeless. Indeed, the life of Maria Agnesi reveals a complex and enigmatic figure -- one of the most fascinating characters in the history of mathematics.

Using newly discovered archival documents, Massimo Mazzotti reconstructs the wide spectrum of Agnesi's social experience and examines her relationships to various traditions -- religious, political, social, and mathematical. This meticulous study shows how she and her fellow Enlightenment Catholics modified tradition in an effort to reconcile aspects of modern philosophy and science with traditional morality and theology.

Mazzotti's original and provocative investigation is also the first targeted study of the Catholic Enlightenment and its influence on modern science. He argues that Agnesi's life is the perfect lens through which we can gain a greater understanding of mid-eighteenth-century cultural trends in continental Europe.

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Contenido, published by Editorial Contenido, S.A. de C.V. on August 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1106 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: La bruja de Agnesi: su criatura no vuela en escoba, pero es tan exacta y aguda que aun hechiza a los matematicos.(Maria Gaetana Agnesi, matematico )(Biografia)
Author: Estela Osorio
Publication: Contenido (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2002
Publisher: Editorial Contenido, S.A. de C.V.
Issue: 470Page: 67(4)

Article Type: Biografia

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Book Description

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Modern Language Review, published by Thomson Gale on July 1, 2006. The length of the article is 899 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Contest for Knowledge: Debates over Women's Learning in Eighteenth-Century Italy.(Book review)
Author: Verina R. Jones
Publication: The Modern Language Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 101Issue: 3Page: 867(2)

Article Type: Book review

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