Sophie Germain
Sanem Naz Kafalı
Sophie Germain was born on April 1, 1776, in France. She was born to a middle-class family. Her dad’s name was Ambroise-Francois and her mum’s name was Marie Germain. The year she was born, the American revolution began and 13 years later the French revolution began. Therefore, we can basically say that she was born into a time of revolution. She also believed in revolution.
Her interest in mathematics started during French Revolution. She was 13 years old. She had to stay at home because of the revolts in Paris and the danger they cause. One day when she was reading in his father’s library, as
usual, she reads about the legend Archimedes. She gets even more intrigued by the things that she reads and starts teaching herself mathematics.
Her father didn’t approve of her interest in mathematics, which was a common belief of people at the time. Considering females' place in society at the time, we can confidently say that not only her parents but also a huge part of society didn’t think women should do mathematics.
Her parents did everything to discourage her from pursuing this passion including taking some severe majors. Yet, they failed. They perceived her passion as an illness and they realized that there was no way of “curing” it.
When she turned 18, she wanted to continue with her education in an academy for training great mathematicians of the nation. However, this academy called Ecole Polytechnique didn’t accept female students. Nonetheless, she acquired the lecture notes for several of the courses and self-studied from them. This enabled her to learn some more advanced topics in depth. She submitted her paper on analysis to J. L. Lagrange, a teacher in the academy. J. L. Lagrange was impressed by the paper and wanted to get to know the writer of it. When he found out that the writer was a female he was even more shocked. Nevertheless, he recognized Sophie’s exceptional mathematical skills and decided to mentor her. With the help of Lagrange, she got introduced to the science and mathematics society. Sophie also got the chance to correspond with Carl Friedrich Gauss whose work in number theory impressed her.
Her investigation of Fermat's Last Theorem in the area of number theory was her most significant contribution to mathematics. Additionally, her contributions to the study of elasticity theory and the development of Fourier analysis were also notable. Germain became the first woman to receive a scientific prize from the French Academy of Sciences. The award was for recognition of her work in elasticity theory.
Her work provided the groundwork for the mathematicians that came after her. She died on June 27, 1831. Her achievements are still acknowledged and appreciated today. She is considered not only a mathematician pioneer but also an inspiration for women who want to work in the field of science and math.
References
Sophie Germain, https://users.metu.edu.tr/home205/e128415/wwwhome/project/sophia.htm.
“Sophie Germain.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sophie-Germain.
Sophie Germain: Revolutionary Mathematician, https://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/germain.html.