Sophie Germain: Daughter of a Silk Merchant Who chose to Become a Mathematician
In this article, you will meet a very famous personality of maths.
Table of Contents
Marie Sophie Germain
Marie Sophie Germain was a french mathematician and physicist. Because she was a girl, so she worked very hard to pursue a career in this man-dominated field. She is known for her works in number theory, elasticity theory, and Germain prime numbers.
Sophie Germain life history
Marie Sophie Germain was born on 1st April 1776. She was born to a very rich silk merchant of the Paris Ambroise Francois. Later her father became a director of a bank. Marie’s mother’s name was Marie Madeline. When Marie first met maths she was 13 years old.
Marie’s fascination with maths was a bothering thing for her family. Because it was taboo for that time’s society. Germain started working on number theory in 1798. After reading Carl Fredrich Gauss’s work she renewed her work on number theory. In 1809 she began to work on elasticity theory.
She worked on it for three years and submitted her research papers in 1811. She is also known for working on Fermat’s theorem. Later in her life, she continued her work on maths and physics.
In 1829 she learned that she had breast cancer. She worked until her death in 1831. In 1831 before her death, her works on elasticity theory were published in a journal.
Sophie’s contribution to mathematics
Her chief interest was number theory. She shared her work’s details with other great mathematicians like Gauss and Legendre. Later she published her work on Fermat’s theorem proving that n = p -1. Then she worked on the vibrating elastic surface of the metal plates due to her interest in elasticity. The equation for elasticity proposed by Marie was this.
Interesting facts about Sophie Germain
Awards and rewards under Sophie’s name
On January 18, 1816, she won the prestigious Paris academy of science prize. She was the first woman to do so.
An award was established in 2003 after her name as Sophie Germain prize, this is given to a French mathematician for his work in this field.
Quotes by Germain
Algebra is nothing more than geometry, in other words, geometry is nothing more than algebra in pictures.”
领英推荐
Sophie Germain
It matters little who first arrived at an idea, rather than what is significant is how far that idea can go.”
Sophie Germain
Other mathematicians like Sophie Germain
Germain is from France and France has been a land of many famous mathematicians like Pierre Simon Laplace and Pierre de Fermat etc.
FAQ about Sophie Germain
Did Sophie Germain have siblings?
Yes she had two sisters. Angelique- ambroise germain and marie- madeline germain.
Where was Sophie Germain born?
She was born in rue saint denis, Paris, France.
When was Sophie born?
1st April 1776.
Who is Leblanc's mathematician?
Marie Sophie Germain
Whom was Sophie married to?
Sophie never married thus she never had children.
How old was Sophie when she died?
She was just 55 years old at the time of her death.
When and where did Sophie Germain die?
27th June 1831 at Paris.
Originally published on?Vedic Maths School.