Hypatia

Hypatia is the first known woman mathematician, scientist and philosopher. She was born in Egypt in 370 AD. Unlike most other gifted girls of her time, she was given an education - by her liberal-minded father Theon, a respected mathematician and astronomer at the Alexandria Library (we'd call it a university). And she was able to get a job there teaching mathematics and philosophy.

She was a very good lecturer and students came from all over to attend her talks. The fact that she was very pretty certainly didn't keep people away either! Her specialities were esoteric aspects of geometry and algebra, but she was also interested in the practical side of the world, inventing an astrolabe, hygrometer and water distiller amongst others.

As a philosopher, her advice was much sought after by the administrators of Alexandria. And the common people - she would often give impromptu lectures in streets to any passer-by who asked her.

But her influence and gender made enemies, notably Cyril, the main Christian leader at Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey). She was not a Christian, and her friends urged her to leave the increasingly fanatical people of Alexandria. She refused, saying that "even if my life is in danger, what good is a life that one does not live as one chooses?"

Tragedy happened in March 415 AD. She was driving her chariot home when she was attacked by a mob that dragged her out and brutally scraped her flesh from her bones with sharp shells. They then cut up her body and burnt it. It is generally (there are exceptions) agreed amongst historians that the mob was of Christian fanatics.

An investigation was immediately launched, but flopped because of the difficulty of finding evidence and witnesses. Her killers were never punished. And, although Hypatia herself became a legend, the fanaticism that had infiltrated the Christian movement caused a sad decline in the exploration and expression of ideas in the years following the tragedy. True faith has always fed true science (indeed, there would be little science without it), but fanaticism and crowd-psychology is death to the pursuit of truth.

References:

1. Mathematical Scandals, by Theoni Pappas.
2. The Cosmopolis site
3. Extract from Life of Isidore. An ancient source translated by Jeremiah Reddy. Excellent.