Charlotte Angas Scott

Science: Mathematics

Girton College
Girton College. Credit: Quintus Lollius Urbicus https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

Charlotte Angas Scott was born on June 8, 1858 in Lincoln, England. She was home schooled when she was a child. She went to Girton College and won a scholarship (MP4) because she was very smart. The college was only for women and it was new.

Cambridge University
Cambridge University. Credit: Christian Richardt http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Cambridge University would not let her be a student there because she was a woman. Many people were upset.  hey started a petition. The petition said that Cambridge University should allow all women to take the tests and recognize them when they got good grades. After this Cambridge University decided to let women take the tests and go to school there. She was the first woman to pass the mathematics (MP4) test at Cambridge University.

Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College. Credit: Public Domain

Scott got her doctorate degree in math from the University of London. Then she became a teacher at Girton College. Later, Scott became a professor at a college called Bryn Mawr. She was the only woman with a doctorate degree in math that knew English. She was also the first math department chair (MP4). She wanted women to be treated the same as men.

An Education Hierarchy Tree Showing, from the Bottom up, High School Diploma, Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, and Doctorate Degree
Levels of Education Including High School Diploma, Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, and Doctorate Degree
Charlotte Angas Scott
Charlotte Angas Scott. Credit: Public Domain

Scott's hearing got worse and worse each year. When Scott was 30 years old she was completely deaf. Scott was very good at teaching.  She trained older students to help younger students. She also had people that helped her communicate with her students.

The American Mathematical Society Logo
The American Mathematical Society Logo

Scott helped start the College Entrance Examination Board and the American Mathematical Society. She was also the Chief Examiner in Mathematics for two years.

Later Scott became the coeditor of the American Journal of Mathematics. She was the coeditor for 27 years. She wrote many papers that were printed in journals. Some of the subjects she wrote about where planes, linear curves, cones, and polygons.

A ConeCone
Credit: DemonDeLuxe (Dominique Toussaint) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

PlanesPlanes
Credit: Public Domain

"A Proof of Noether's Fundamental Theorem" was her most important paper. This was about geometry.

 An Illustration of the Polygon Types Triangle, Square, Pentagon, Hexagon, Heptagon, Octagon, Nonagon, Decagon, Hendecagon, and Dodecagon
Regular Polygons
2 Horses Standing in a Field
Horses. Credit: François Marchal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:GNU_Free_Documentation_License

After she retired she lived in England. She liked horses and gardening. She didn't stop thinking about math when she retired. She wanted to know how they used math in horse breeding and horse racing so she studied it.

She died November 10, 1931 in England.

Memberships

  • Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung
  • Edinburgh Mathematical Society
  • Circolo Matematico Di Palermo
  • Honorary member of the Amsterdam Mathematical Society

London Mathematical Society LogoLondon Mathematical Society Logo
Credit: Fair Use

Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung LogoDeutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung Logo
Credit: Public Domain

Read More about Charlotte Angas Scott

PBWorks Wiki - Charlotte Angas Scott 

References

  • Lang, H. G., & Meath-Lang, B. (1995). Charlotte Angas Scott. In A Biographical Dictionary: Deaf Persons in the Arts and Sciences (pp.313-317). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
  • Morrow, C. & Perl, T. (1998). Notable Women in Mathematics: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport CT: Greenwood Press.
  • Obituary. (1931, November 16). The Times.

Page last updated 11:35 AM, April 20, 2023