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Hypatia was a philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who became one of the last great scholars of the Library of Alexandria. Her genius was in her deep mastery of Greek rationalism; she edited and simplified the works of Diophantus (Algebra) and Apollonius (Conic Sections). She was a popular teacher, attracting students from all over the empire who came to hear her lectures on Neoplatonism. Hypatia also worked on astronomical charts and refined the design of the astrolabe. Her tragic murder by a mob symbolized the decline of classical science and the dawn of the Middle Ages, but her legacy lived on through the students she inspired.