"In my days as a logic historian I spent a not very pleasant two weeks in the British Newspaper Library in Colindale (the tenth circle of hell), amongst other things, going through the Educational Times looking for contributions on the algebra of logic. During this search I came across the Bertrand Russell contribution, which I showed, some time later, to a leading Russell scholar of my acquaintance, who shall remain here nameless. Imagine my surprise when shortly afterwards an article was published by said Russell expert explaining how he had discovered Russell’s first ever mathematical publication in the Mathematical Questions column of The Educational Times. He made no mention of the fact that it was actually I who had made the discovery."
I don't know why that's the most famous female logician I could think of. Maybe because Matiyasevich credits her very self-effacedly whenever he talks about the 10th problem.
But regarding the actual article...
"Only by arguing that she was too ugly to get a husband was she able to persuade her father and grandmother to allow her to study at the women’s college Vassar."
Holy crap, I wonder how much of this still happens.
Now it's less gender stereotype and more necessity (though both still apply).
In the past 50 years there has been a tectonic shift in single motherhood, and the implications thereof make education a much less pressing concern than others. Even when you finish school, kids today are at a significant disadvantage as test scores continue to plummet. In some areas of the US there's no significant advantage to finishing high school. And after having a child very young with no other parent to help raise it, going to school may not be a choice one can reasonably make.
Women today face not only discrimination and abuse, they are left rearing children and trying to make ends meet starting in their teens, with large racial and economic biases. This is the reality we should really be shocked by, and not just the vestiges of our recent past.
"Due to the fact that women could not do experiment work in laboratories she was forced to choose mathematics[1] over physics, a decision that she regretted all of her life."
It makes more sense as a longer title, such as "A Lady Logician In The 19th Century", which is equivalent to "A Black Major League Baseball Player In The 19th Century".
"In my days as a logic historian I spent a not very pleasant two weeks in the British Newspaper Library in Colindale (the tenth circle of hell), amongst other things, going through the Educational Times looking for contributions on the algebra of logic. During this search I came across the Bertrand Russell contribution, which I showed, some time later, to a leading Russell scholar of my acquaintance, who shall remain here nameless. Imagine my surprise when shortly afterwards an article was published by said Russell expert explaining how he had discovered Russell’s first ever mathematical publication in the Mathematical Questions column of The Educational Times. He made no mention of the fact that it was actually I who had made the discovery."