Pandrosion

Pandrosion of Alexandria () was a mathematician in fourth-century-AD Alexandria, discussed in the Mathematical Collection of Pappus of Alexandria and known for having possibly developed an approximate method for doubling the cube. She is likely the earliest known female mathematician.

==Contributions== thumb|Doubling the cube is calculating a cube with double the volume of the another.|alt=Figure representing two cubes: a green cube with an edge marked "1" and containing "V1 = 1³", an arrow pointing left, a larger blue cube with and edge marked "cubic root of 2" and cointaining "V2 = 2 ⋅ 1³". Pappus dedicated a section of his Collection to correcting what he perceives as errors in Pandrosion's students. Although Pappus does not directly state that the method is Pandrosion's, he includes in this section a method for calculating numerically accurate but approximate solutions to the problem of doubling the cube, or more generally of calculating cube roots. It is a "recursive geometric" solution, but three-dimensional rather than working within the plane. Pappus criticized this work as lacking a proper mathematical proof. Another method included in the same section, and potentially attributable in the same way indirectly to Pandrosion, is a correct and exact method for constructing the geometric mean, simpler than the method used by Pappus.