page_title: List of female scientists before the 20th century
section_title: Antiquity
hierarchical_section_title: List of female scientists before the 20th century / Antiquity
caption_attribution_description: English: Bust of Aspasia, identified through an inscription. Marble, Roman copy after an Hellenistic original. From Torre della Chiarrucia (Castrum Novum) near Civitavecchia. Français&#160;: Buste d'Aspasie, identifiée grâce à l'inscription. Marbre, copie romaine d'après un original hellénistique. Provenance&#160;: Torre della Chiarrucia (Castrum Novum) près de Civitavecchia.
context_page_description: This is a historical list, intended to deal with the time period where it is believed that women working in science were rare. For this reason, this list ends with the 20th century.
context_section_description: Gargi Vachaknavi (7th century BCE), Indian philosopher
  Abrotelia (5th BCE), philosopher in Ancient Greece
  Aemilia (c. 300 CE–363 CE), Gallo-Roman physician
  Aesara of Lucania (4th or 3rd BCE), philosopher in Ancient Greece
  Agamede (12th century BCE), physician in Ancient Greece (possibly mythical)
  Aglaonike (2nd century BCE), first woman astronomer in Ancient Greece
  Agnodike (4th century BCE), first woman physician to practice legally in Athens
  Andromache (mid-6th century), Egyptian physician
  Amyte (300 BCE), Greek physician and poet
  Arete of Cyrene (5th–4th centuries BCE), natural and moral philosopher, North Africa
  Artemisia of Caria (c. 300 BCE), botanist
  Asclepigenia (4th AD), Greek Neoplatonist
  Aspasia (4th century BCE), philosopher and scientist
  Aspasia the Physician (fl. 1st century CE), Greek physician
  Axiothea of Phlius (fl. c. 350 BCE), Greek philosopher
  Aurelia Alexandria Zosime, Ancient Roman physician 
  Beronice (1st AD), Roman philosopher
  Caerellia (c. 45 BCE), Roman academician
  Clea (1st-2nd century AD), philosopher
  Cleachma (5th century BCE), Greek philosopher
  Cleopatra the Alchemist - wrote the alchemical book, Chrysopoeia, or "gold-making"
  Damo (6th century BCE), Greek natural philosopher
  Diotima of Mantinea (4th century BCE), philosopher and scientist, ancient Greece (sources vary as to her historicity; possibly a fictionalized character based on Aspasia of Miletus)
  Eccello of Lucania (5th or 4th century BCE), Greek/Italian mathematician and natural philosopher
  Echecratia the Philiasian (5th century BCE), Greek/Italian mathematician and natural philosopher
  Elephantis (1st century BCE), Greek physician
  Enheduanna (c. 2285–2250 BCE), Sumerian/Akkadian astronomer and poet
  Fabiola (died 399 CE), Roman physician
  Fang (first century B.C.), Chinese chemist
  Favilla (2nd century), Roman physician
  Hypatia (370–415 CE), mathematician and astronomer, Egypt
  Laïs, midwife
  Lais of Corinth, Ancient Greek physician 
  Lastheneia of Mantinea (5th century BCE), student of Plato
  Leontium (3rd BCE), Greek philosopher
  Leoparda (4th century AD), gynecologist
  Macrina (4th century AD), Greek physician and nun
  Marcella (4th century AD), Roman healer
  Mary the Jewess (1st or 2nd century CE), alchemist
  Melissa (3rd century BCE), Greek philosopher
  Merit Ptah (c. 2700 BCE), Egyptian physician
  Metrodora (c. 200–400 AD), Greek physician and author
  Minucia Asste, Ancient Roman physician 
  Myia (5th century BCE), Greek philosopher
  Nicerata (c. 5th century), physician and healer
  Occello of Lucania (4th or 5th century BCE), Greek natural philosopher and mathematician
  Olympias of Thebes (1st century BCE), Greek midwife
  Origenia (2nd century AD), Greek healer
  Pao Ku Ko (3rd-century A.D.), Chinese chemist
  Paphnutia the Virgin (c. 300), Egyptian alchemist
  Paula (347–404 CE), Roman healer
  Perictione (5th century BCE), Greek philosopher, mother of Plato
  Panthea, Ancient Greek physician, wife and colleague of Glycon. 
  Philinna of Thessaly, Ancient Greek physician 
  Peseshet Egyptian physician (Fourth Dynasty)
  Pulcheria (5th century AD), healer
  Pythias of Assos (4th century BCE), marine zoologist
  Restituta (1st-century), Ancient Roman physician  
  Salpe of Lesbos, Ancient Greek physician 
  Salpe (1st century BCE), Greek midwife
  Sotira (1st century BCE), Greek physician
  Tapputi-Belatekallim (First mentioned in a clay tablet dating to 2000 BCE), Babylonian perfumer, the first person in history recorded as using a chemical process
  Terentia Prima, Ancient Roman physician 
  Theano (6th century BCE), philosopher, mathematician and physician
  Thelka, Iranian
  Theosebeia (4th century AD), healer
caption: Marble herm in the Vatican Museums inscribed with Aspasia's name at the base. Discovered in 1777, this marble herm is a Roman copy of a 5th-century BC original and may represent Aspasia's funerary stele.
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