Who was Pandrosion of Alexandria?

Pandrosion of Alexandria was a fourth-century AD mathematician and is likely the earliest known female mathematician. She is primarily known through the Mathematical Collection of Pappus of Alexandria, where she is noted for potentially developing an approximate method for doubling the cube.

What we know

• Pandrosion was a mathematician who lived in fourth-century-AD Alexandria. [1, 2]
• She is likely the earliest known female mathematician. [2] · medium confidence
• She is discussed in the Mathematical Collection of Pappus of Alexandria. [2]
• She is known for having possibly developed an approximate method for doubling the cube. [2] · medium confidence

Still open

• The exact nature of her authorship and whether she definitively developed the cube-doubling approximation method remain subject to historical interpretation through Pappus's writings.

Where to go next

• how we knowWhat was the Mathematical Collection of Pappus?
• how it workedHow does one double the cube mathematically?
• whoWho was Pappus of Alexandria?
• the bigger pictureWhat was the role of women in ancient mathematics?
• whereWhat other mathematicians worked in fourth-century Alexandria?
• an unexpected connectionHow do ancient texts preserve forgotten female scholars?Although ancient historical records rarely feature women in STEM, figures like Pandrosion survive entirely through the critical writings of their male contemporaries.

Sources

• [1]Pandrosion (Wikidata Q63456919) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Pandrosion · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]List of Greek mathematicians · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Timeline of ancient Greek mathematicians · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]List of women in mathematics · CC BY-SA 4.0