Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia (bk 1) (32 pgs)

Love, D. Anne (2006). Of numbers and stars: the story of Hypatia. Holiday House. New York.


Summary:
Hypatia was born in the fourth century, a time when only boys were allowed to be educated. Hypatia's father was a mathematician and taught her how to read and write, grammar, arithmetic, geometry, and astrology. She became an authority on all of the subjects her father taught her and even had men sitting at her feet to hear her teach. She became an icon for women of the time and the future.

Author: D. Anne Love
Illustrator: Pam Paparone
Illustrations: Illustrations are acrylic paintings that tell the story and go along with the author's writings. They usually take up most of the two page spread with very little writing on each page.
Access Features: Author's Not, More About Math, Bibliography
Grade Level: PreK-3
Book Design: The cover is an illustration of Hypatia with mathematic formulas in the background. The end pages are blue either to represent the sky or reflect the blue of the ocean on the cover. Book is tall and rectangular and there are many ancient looking symbols throughout the book and on the cover. Font is Celestia Antiqua to reflect the ancient times discussed in the book.
Writing Style: The writing is very age appropriate. The language is simple yet eloquent letting the reader know the author is fascinated with this person. The language is very easy to understand even though she uses some technical terms in the book.
Curriculum: Social Studies
Classroom Use: I would use this book to talk about influential women in history.
Standards: Social Studies-Standard 1: Culture; Standard 8: Science, Technology, and Society
Awards: Notable Social Studies Trade Book 2007
Author Credibility: Love notes that there is not a lot of firsthand information available about Hypatia but does list some books that she used as sources. One is a textbook while the others are either about Hypatia or the town of Alexandria. Love also thanks a professor with the Mathematics Department at Monash University who did extensive research on Hypatia and shared his information with the author.
Related Texts: Black Stars: African American Women Scientist and Inventors -Otha Richard Sullivan and Jim Haskins

Response:
I really enjoyed reading this book. I had never heard of Hyaptia before so it was refreshing to read about a woman who made such a difference in that time period. It's great to see women from ancient eras finally getting the recognition they deserve.