The Historical Context of the Gender Gap in Mathematics

This chapter is based on the talk that I gave in August 2018 at the ICM in Rio de Janeiro at the panel on "The Gender Gap in Mathematical and Natural Sciences from a Historical Perspective". It provides some examples of the challenges and prejudices faced by women mathematicians during last two hundred and fifty years. I make no claim for completeness but hope that the examples will help to shed light on some of the problems many women mathematicians still face today