On this date, May 16, in the year 1718, the talented Maria Agnesi was born. A great source of historical information about mathematics and mathematicians is MacTutor, a math-history website maintained by the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland. One of the services that MacTutor provides is a list of names and information about mathematicians born on each day of the year. For example, this link leads to the listing for May 16 -- and to lots of info about Agnesi. Here, in a 7x7 syllable-square, is a brief sketch of her life:
This 2018 Scientific American blog posting by Evelyn Lamb discusses a curve from calculus, often called (somewhat misleadingly) "the witch of Agnesi." Previous mentions of Agnesi in this blog may be found at this link.
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