Sophie Germain – A Life Between Numbers and Freedom

1880 illustration of a young Sophie Germain (circa 1790)

                                                                  

We know that women also worked on Mathematics, but their interest encountered several limitations due to their gender.

For example, Sophie Germain, born on 1st April 1776 in Paris, made important contributions to the field of Mathematics, in particular to number theory and the applied mathematics of acoustics and elasticity.

Sophie's interest in mathematics sparked at the age of 13 when she read about Archimedes' death. She thought that maths must be an interesting subject, if someone could love it so much to die for it.

She learned Latin and Greek by herself to be able to read Euler and Newton works. Furthermore she read every mathematics book in the home's library.

Her parents, initially opposed to her wishes, assigned her a private tutor for her mathematical studies, but Sophie was not satisfied and wanted to attend the University, forbidden to women during her time.

She thus decided to enroll at the École Polytechnique using the pseudonym Monsieur Antoine-August Le Blanc.

Lagrange 

Sophie studied independently on the course notes without attending, in order not to be discovered. Lagrange, at the time a teacher at the École, was struck by Le Blanc's skill and wanted to meet him. So Sophie had to reveal her true identity.

Lagrange introduced her into the mathematical community.

Under his guidance, Sophie devoted herself to advanced study, especially of Number Theory and Fermat's Last Theorem.

During the study of the theorem that  provided a foundation for mathematicians exploring the subject for hundreds of years after, she found a type of prime number: Sophie Germain's prime.

Carl F. Gauss

In 1804, she began an epistolary correspondence with Carl F. Gauss, still using the same pseudonym, to deepen her studies of number theory. Gauss was thrilled when he learned she was a woman, confirming his esteem for her.

Sophie subsequently devoted herself to the study of vibrating plates and, with the help of Lagrange, obtained the correct solution to the plate problem. This solution, however, due to the prevailing machismo, went down in history as Lagrange's differential equation, and is only recently mentioned as the Germain-Lagrange plate equation.

This important contribution is a work full of brilliant insights that lays the foundations of the modern theory of elasticity.

I suggest the book 'Sophie Germain: An Essay in the History of the Theory of Elasticity'.

It took her several years of work to be recognized and appreciated for her contributions to the field of mathematics and science: the Academy of Sciences of Paris finally awarded her work on elasticity in 1816.

Sophie Germain is considered an icon of feminism for the fight against the social and cultural prejudices of her time.

Sophie Germain (Œuvres_philosophiques, 1896)

A brilliant and tenacious mind, she has left an indelible mark not only on the history of mathematics and science, but also on the cultural and social fabric of humanity. Her cultural legacy is a song of perseverance, an ode to the strength of the intellect that rises against the storms of prejudice.

Born in an era when women were excluded from academia and relegated to the margins of intellectual life, Sophie immersed herself in numbers and equations with a passion that defied convention. Her contributions are jewels of a legacy that shines with rigor and genius. But what makes her cultural legacy so poignant is the price she paid to pursue it: years of clandestine study, letters exchanged with giants like Gauss, who only later discovered the true identity of that extraordinary mind. Her life was a slow, painful chipping away at the walls of exclusion, an act of creation that was not limited to formulas, but redesigned the boundaries of the possible.

Socially, Sophie Germain emerges as an icon of feminism ante litteram, a beacon of resistance against the prejudices that chained women to silence. It was not only her intelligence that made her a symbol, but the courage with which she faced a world that denied her space. In an era in which female education was seen as an aberration, she appropriated knowledge with a determination that had the flavor of rebellion. Each step towards recognition was not only a personal victory, but a collective one, a silent cry for all women crushed by the weight of social expectations.

Sophie did not just fight for herself: her example became an inspiration, a reminder that the fight against cultural and gender prejudices requires time, sacrifice and an unyielding obstinacy. Although she did not live to see the full recognition of her genius, her name resonates today as a symbol of emancipation, an echo of what a woman can achieve when she dares to challenge the destiny that was imposed on her.

Her legacy, therefore, is twofold: a mathematical heritage that still illuminates science today, and a living testimony to the transformative power of those who refuse to be forgotten.

Sophie Germain is not just a scientist; she is a sentiment, a breath of hope for anyone fighting to be heard in a world that too often closes its doors.

On 27 June 1831, she passed away from breast cancer.

The plaque on Sophie Germain house at 13, rue de Savoie. Source

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Images: they come from Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain, except the last one (the plaque) which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

References:

Sophie Germain (on Wikipedia) 

Badass Wimmin of History Presentes Sophie Germain

Sophie Germain, la boss des maths

Marie-Sophie Germain - Biography