Sophie Germain

Marie-Sophie Germain
Marie-Sophie Germain
Born	(1776-04-01)1 April 1776 Rue Saint-Denis, Paris, France
Died	27 June 1831(1831-06-27) (aged 55) Paris, France
Residence	France
Nationality	French
Fields	Mathematician, physicist, and philosopher
Known for	elasticity theory, differential geometry, and number theory; e.g. Sophie Germain prime numbers
Notes
Other name: Auguste Antoine Le Blanc

Marie-Sophie Germain (French: [maʁi sɔfi ʒɛʁmɛ̃]; 1 April 1776 – 27 June 1831) was a French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. Despite initial opposition from her parents and difficulties presented by society, she gained education from books in her father's library including ones by Leonhard Euler and from correspondence with famous mathematicians such as Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss. One of the pioneers of elasticity theory, she won the grand prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her essay on the subject. Her work on Fermat's Last Theorem provided a foundation for mathematicians exploring the subject for hundreds of years after. Because of prejudice against her sex, she was unable to make a career out of mathematics, but she worked independently throughout her life. At the centenary of her life, a street and a girls' school were named after her. The Academy of Sciences established The Sophie Germain Prize in her honor.

Marie-Sophie Germain was born on 1 April 1776, in Paris, France, in a house on Rue Saint-Denis. According to most sources, her father, Ambroise-Franҫois, was a wealthy silk merchant, though some believe he was a goldsmith. In 1789, he was elected as a representative of the bourgeoisie to the États-Généraux, which he saw change into the Constitutional Assembly. It is therefore assumed that Sophie witnessed many discussions between her father and his friends on politics and philosophy. Gray proposes that after his political career, Ambroise-Franҫois became the director of a bank; at least, the family remained well-off enough to support Germain throughout her adult life.