Philosopher Hypatia of Ancient Alexandria

Philosopher Hypatia of Ancient Alexandria Known for: Greek intellectual and teacher in Alexandria, Egypt, known for mathematics and philosophy, martyred by Christian mob Dates: born about 350 to 370, died 416 Alternate spelling: Ipazia About Hypatia Hypatia was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria who was a teacher of mathematics with the Museum of Alexandria in Egypt. A center of Greek intellectual and cultural life, the Museum included many independent schools and the great library of Alexandria. Hypatia studied with her father, and with many others including Plutarch the Younger. She herself taught at the Neoplatonist school of philosophy. She became the salaried director of this school in 400. She probably wrote on mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy, including about the motions of the planets, about number theory and about conic sections. Accomplishments Hypatia, according to sources, corresponded with and hosted scholars from other cities. Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais, was one of her correspondents and he visited her frequently. Hypatia was a popular lecturer, drawing students from many parts of the empire. From the little historical information about Hypatia that survives, it is surmised by some that she invented the plane astrolabe, the graduated brass hydrometer, and the hydroscope, with Synesius of Greece, who was her student and later colleague.  The evidence may also point to simply being able to construct those instruments. Hypatia is said to have dressed in the clothing of a scholar or teacher, rather than in womens clothing. She moved about freely, driving her own chariot, contrary to the norm for womens public behavior. She was credited by the surviving sources as having political influence in the city, especially with Orestes, the Roman governor of Alexandria. Hypatias Death The story by Socrates Scholasticus written soon after Hypatias death and the version written by John of Nikiu of Egypt more than 200 years later disagree in considerable detail, although both were written by Christians.  Both seem to be focused on justifying the expulsion of the Jews by Cyril, the Christian bishop, and on associating Orestes with Hypatia. In both, Hypatias death was a result of a conflict between the Orestes and Cyril, later made a saint of the church. According to Scholasticus, an order of Orestes to control Jewish celebrations met with approval by Christians, then to violence between the Christians and the Jews. The Christian-told stories make it clear that they blame the Jews for the mass killing of Christians, leading to the banishment of the Jews of Alexandria by Cyril.  Cyril accused Orestes of being a pagan, and a large group of monks who came to fight with Cyril attacked Orestes. A monk who injured Orestes was arrested and tortured.  John of Nikiu accuses Orestes of inflaming the Jews against the Christians, also telling a story of the mass killing of Christians by Jews, followed by Cyril purging the Jews from Alexandria and converting the synagogues to churches.  Johns version leaves out the part about a large group of monks coming to town and joining the Christian forces against the Jews and Orestes. Hypatia enters the story as someone associated with Orestes and suspected by the angry Christians of advising Orestes not to reconcile with Cyril.  In John of Nikius account, Orestes was causing people to leave the church and follow Hypatia.  He  associated her with Satan and accused her of converting people away from Christianity. Scholasticus credits Cyrils preaching against Hypatia with inciting a mob led by fanatical Christian monks to attack Hypatia as she drove her chariot through Alexandria. They dragged her from her chariot, stripped her, killed her, stripped her flesh from her bones, scattered her body parts through the streets, and burned some remaining parts of her body in the library of Caesareum.  Johns version of her death is also that a mob for him justified because she beguiled the people of the city and the prefect through her enchantments stripped her naked and dragged her through the city until she died. Legacy of Hypatia Hypatias students fled to Athens, where the study of mathematics flourished after that. The Neoplatonic school she headed continued in Alexandria until the Arabs invaded in 642. When the library of Alexandria was burned, the works of Hypatia were destroyed.  That burning happened primarily in Roman times.  We know her writings today through the works of others who quoted her even if unfavorably and a few letters written to her by contemporaries. Books About Hypatia Dzielska, Maria.  Hypatia of Alexandria.  1995.Amore, Khan.  Hypatia.  2001. (a novel)Knorr, Wilbur Richard.  Textual Studies in Ancient and Medieval Geometry. 1989.Nietupski, Nancy. Hypatia: Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher.  Alexandria  2.Kramer, Edna E. Hypatia.  The Dictionary of Scientific Biography.  Gillispie, Charles C. ed. 1970-1990.Mueller, Ian. Hypatia (370?-415).  Women of Mathematics. Louise S. Grinstein and Paul J. Campbell, ed. 1987.Alic, Margaret.  Hypatias Heritage: A History of Women in Science from Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century.  1986. Hypatia appears as a character or theme in several works of other writers, including in  Hypatia, or New Foes with Old Faces, a historical novel by Charles Kingley.

Washington Naval Disarmament Treaty

Washington Naval Disarmament Treaty The Washington Naval Conference Following the end of World War I, the United States, Great Britain, and Japan all commenced large-scale programs of capital ship construction. In the United States, this took the form of five new battleships and four battlecruisers, while across the Atlantic the Royal Navy was preparing to build its series of G3 Battlecruisers and N3 Battleships. For the Japanese, the postwar naval construction began with a program calling for eight new battleships and eight new battlecruisers. This building spree led to concern that a new naval arms race, similar to the pre-war Anglo-German competition, was about to begin. Seeking to prevent this, President Warren G. Harding called the Washington Naval Conference in late 1921, with the goal of establishing limits on warship construction and tonnage. Convening on November 12, 1921, under the auspices of the League of Nations, the delegates met at Memorial Continental Hall in Washington DC. Attended by nine countries with concerns in the Pacific, the principal players included the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy. Leading the American delegation was Secretary of State Charles Evan Hughes who sought to limit Japanese expansionism in the Pacific. For the British, the conference offered an opportunity to avoid an arms race with the US as well as an opportunity to achieve stability in the Pacific which would provide protection to Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Arriving in Washington, the Japanese possessed a clear agenda that included a naval treaty and recognition of their interests in Manchuria and Mongolia. Both nations were concerned about the power of American shipyards to out-produce them if an arms race were to occur. As the negotiations commenced, Hughes was aided by intelligence provided by Herbert Yardleys Black Chamber. Operated cooperatively by the State Department and US Army, Yardleys office was tasked with intercepting and decrypting communications between the delegations and their home governments. Particular progress was made breaking Japanese codes and reading their traffic. The intelligence received from this source permitted Hughes to negotiate the most favorable deal possible with the Japanese. After several weeks of meetings, the worlds first disarmament treaty was signed on February 6, 1922. The Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty set specific tonnage limits on the signees as well as restricted armament size and expansion of naval facilities. The core of the treaty established a tonnage ratio that permitted the following: United States: Capital Ships - 525,000 tons, Aircraft Carriers - 135,000 tonsGreat Britain: Capital Ships - 525,000 tons, Aircraft Carriers - 135,000 tonsJapan: Capital Ships - 315,000 tons, Aircraft Carriers - 81,000 tonsFrance: Capital Ships - 175,000 tons, Aircraft Carriers - 60,000 tonsItaly: Capital Ships - 175,000 tons, Aircraft Carriers - 60,000 tons As part of these restrictions, no single ship was to exceed 35,000 tons or mount larger than 16-inch guns. Aircraft carrier size was capped at 27,000 tons, though two per nation could be as large as 33,000 tons. In regard to onshore facilities, it was agreed that the status quo at the time of the treatys signing would be maintained. This prohibited the further expansion or fortification of naval bases in small island territories and possessions. Expansion on the mainland or large islands (such as Hawaii) was permitted. Since some commissioned warships  exceeded the treaty terms, some exceptions were made for existing tonnage. Under the treaty, older warships could be replaced, however, the new vessels were required to meet the restrictions and all signatories were to be informed of their construction. The 5:5:3:1:1 ratio imposed by the treaty led to friction during negotiations. France, with coasts on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, felt that it should be permitted a larger fleet than Italy. They were finally convinced to agree to the ratio by promises of British support in the Atlantic. Among the main naval powers, the 5:5:3 ratio was badly received by the Japanese who felt they were being slighted by the Western Powers. As the Imperial Japanese Navy was essentially a one-ocean navy, the ratio still gave them a superiority over the US and Royal Navy which had multi-ocean responsibilities. With the treatys implementation, the British were forced to cancel the G3 and N3 programs and the US Navy was required to scrap some of its existing tonnages to meet the tonnage restriction. Two battlecruisers then under construction were converted into the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and USS Saratoga. The treaty effectively stopped battleship construction for several years as the signatories attempted to design ships that were powerful, but yet still met the agreements terms. Also, efforts were made to build large light cruisers that were effectively heavy cruisers or that could be up-converted with bigger guns in wartime. In 1930, the treaty was altered by the London Naval Treaty. This, in turn, was followed by the Second London Naval Treaty in 1936. This last treaty was not signed by Japanese as they had decided to withdraw from the agreement in 1934. The series of treaties begun with the Washington Naval Treaty effectively ceased on September 1, 1939, with the beginning of World War II. While in place, the treaty did somewhat limit capital ship construction, however, the per vessel tonnage limitations were frequently flouted with most signatories either using creative accounting in computing displacement or outright lying about a vessels size. Selected Sources Washington Naval Treaty: TextUS State Department: Washington Naval Conference