Hypatia's Reading List
The 5 books that shaped Hypatia — mathematician & philosopher.
The last great scholar of ancient Alexandria — a woman who taught philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics in a world that would soon destroy her library.
Influential Books
Elements
Euclid
Hypatia was known for her commentaries on Euclid. She taught geometry as a path to understanding the divine.
The Almagest
Ptolemy(150)
Hypatia's father Theon edited the definitive version of Ptolemy's astronomical masterwork, which she helped revise.
Arithmetica
Diophantus(250)
Hypatia wrote a commentary on Diophantus that preserved much of this foundational work in number theory.
The Republic
Plato
As a Neoplatonist philosopher, Hypatia taught Plato's works as pathways to understanding ultimate reality.
Conics
Apollonius of Perga
Hypatia edited and commented on Apollonius' work on conic sections, ensuring its survival for future mathematicians.