Hypatia, the daughter of the well known mathematician and astronomer Theon, became the last of the early Greek mathematicians. She was also an inventor.
She lived in Alexandria in Egypt from 370 to 415 and lectured at the University of Alexandria on geometry, astronomy, simple mechanics, philosophy and algebra, attracting students from Europe, Asia and Africa.
In mathematics, her main interest was algebra where she built on the work of another Alexandrian mathematician Diophantus, a founder of modern algebra. She also wrote about conic sections.
Her inventions included an astrolabe for measuring the positions of stars and planets, apparatus for distilling water and an instrument for measuring the density of water.