Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale is very famous for her work as a nurse during the Crimean War, a hospital

reformer and a humanitarian. However, what is less known from this British woman is her love

for mathematics, especially statistics. Named after her hometown, Nightingale was born in Villa

Colombia in Florence, Italy, on the 12th May 1820, she was raised, by her parents, William

Edward Nightingale and his wife Frances. She had an older sister named Panthenope. Florence

was raised mostly in Derbyshire, England and received a thorough classical education from her

father, she loved her lessons and loved to study. Thanks to her father, Florence became reading

classics, Descartes, Aristotle, the Bible and political matters. He also taught her Greek, Latin,

French, German and Italian.


In 1840, she begged her parents to let her study mathematics instead of “worsted work and

practising quadrilles”.But Frances, her mother didn’t approved it and her fath...