Sophie Germain |
1776-1831 |
Marie-Sophie Germain was born in Paris France in 1776. Her father was a silk-merchant. At a young age, Sophie read an account of Archimedes death and decided then she wanted to be a mathematician. She would read books by Newton and Euler, much to the disapproval of her parents.
Sophie obtained lecture notes from courses at L'École Polytechnique to persue her studies, as women were not allowed formal university education. Sophie submitted a paper to Lagrange at the end of one of his courses. After reading her paper, submitted with the alias "M. Leblanc", Lagrange discovered that the author was actual female. Lagrange began to sponser Sophie and became her mathematical counsellor. Sophie wanted to, but was unable to obtain a formal education.
Sophie wrote to other mathematicians of the time, including Legendre, who included a paper of hers in a suppliment to the second edition of his Théorie. She also corresponded heavily with Gauss, who also discovered her true identity sooner than Lagrange. Sophie helped in the development of steps to prove Fermat's Last Theorem.
Sophie worked on problems involving elasticity with Lagrange's help. Her paper, entitled Considérations générale sur l'état des sciences et des lettres was published in the paper Oeuvres philosophiques which was praised by the mathematician Auguste Compte.
Sophie published other work on such topics as number theory, and the curvature of surfaces in 1831. Sophie Germain died in June of 1831 of breast cancer.
Sites About Sophie Germain |
Description |
| Sophie Germain Primes | A look at some of her mathematical contributions. |
| Sophie Germain | A biographical site. |