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They Expanded the Boundaries of Knowledge

Intellectual Biographies of Mathematicians Sofya Kovalevskaya and Emmy Noether

Summary/Abstract: This essay analyzes lives and works of two distinguished female mathematicians, Sofya Kovalevskaya, who lived in the second half of the 19th century, and Emmy Noether, who was the most active in the first decades of the 20th century. The essay traces the problems faced by both female mathematicians regarding the (im)possibilities for higher education for women, earning the PhD title, and subsequently gaining the position at the universities. The author analyzes the accomplishments of both female mathematicians to the field of mathematics (analysis, partial differential equations, algebra), having in mind that women have been largely made invisible and denied the most important awards in that field. Finally, this essay indicates the importance of remembering of women pioneers in the field of various scientific research and disciplines, not only because they succeeded with more or less sacrifice to become visible and recognized as accomplished scientists, but also because of immense efforts they made to open the space of science for the work of other female scientists and new generations of women in sciences.

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