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My goal here clearly has not been the presentation of a definitive account or a polished treatise. It was my intention to throw out food for thought, to illustrate some of the curiosities and ironies inherent in women’s position in mathematics historically and across cultures. The interactions of gender and culture are never simple or straightforward. The history of women in mathematics has not been some Whiggish triumphal passage from darkness into light, but neither has it been a chronicle exclusively of discrimination and marginalization. The history and present status of women in mathematics are complicated, and often the picture has elements of contradiction. One conclusion seems obvious, however. The complex and multifaceted interactions of gender and mathematics can be understood only if one takes into account historical and cross-cultural perspectives.

In the years 1935–1945 there are distinct signs of research mathematics beginning to come to Canada. Synge returned to Toronto in 1930 as the head of a new Department of Applied Mathematics, which later included Alexander Weinstein and Leopold Infeld. In addition, the Nuremberg Laws brought the first refugee mathematician of what would later be a large and productive group: Richard Brauer came to Toronto in 1935. Brauer’s appointment was apparently made at the suggestion of Emmy Noether, as Robinson reports. However, Robinson also reports that “Our chairman was anxious to build up the department, and the suggestion was immediately accepted”, while Morawetz notes “It is hard to imagine today the struggle to make that appointment”. This is just one example of history that this brief article has not been able to unravel. In addition to the refugee influx-in part unwilling, as enemy aliens arrested in Britain and transported-we see a general growth in interest in both pure and applied mathematics across the country after the war. Young mathematicians began to leave the country for mathematical study. Their return to teaching posts, their research activity, and the founding of the Canadian Mathematical Society/Société mathématique du Canada brought new perspectives to mathematics in Canada. Mathematics began to develop in an independent fashion, with new contacts with the world mathematics community.

My goal here clearly has not been the presentation of a definitive account or a polished treatise. It was my intention to throw out food for thought, to illustrate some of the curiosities and ironies inherent in women’s position in mathematics historically and across cultures. The interactions of gender and culture are never simple or straightforward. The history of women in mathematics has not been some Whiggish triumphal passage from darkness into light, but neither has it been a chronicle exclusively of discrimination and marginalization. The history and present status of women in mathematics are complicated, and often the picture has elements of contradiction. One conclusion seems obvious, however. The complex and multifaceted interactions of gender and mathematics can be understood only if one takes into account historical and cross-cultural perspectives.