Marie-Sophie Germain

Marie-Sophie Germain (April 1, 1776 June 27, 1831), called Sophie, was born in Paris at the ti e o! re"olution, but the #rench $e"olution didn%t help talented, curious wo en wishin& to enter a do ain considered the e'clusi"e pro"ince o! en( She was the

dau&hter o! a prosperous sil)* erchant, who constantl+ tried to discoura&e her desire to stud+ athe atics( ,espite

re"olution and the subse-uent $ei&n o! .error, her bour&eois !a il+%s prosperit+ was not &reatl+ a!!ected( As /er ain ne"er arried or had an+ eans o! earnin& a li"in&, she re ained at ho e her entire li!e(

.o be sa!e !ro

the dan&ers in the streets, Sophie lur)ed about her !ather%s librar+( At a&e thirteen, she

read an account o! the death o! Archi edes, who was )illed when, so en&rossed in his dia&ra s, he !ailed to respond to the orders o! a $o an soldier( 0nspired that so eone could be so capti"ated b+ a proble , she decided that /uillau athe atics ust be the ost !ascinatin& sub1ect o! all( 2er !irst bio&rapher, athe atics 4an en"iron ent

e 3ibri, speculated that she

i&ht ha"e seen in the stud+ o!

where she could li"e untouched b+ the con!usion o! social realit+(5 6hate"er her reasons, /er ain went about her plan with a "en&eance( She tau&ht hersel! 3atin and /ree) so she athe atical wor)s( 7elie"in& that to discoura&e her !ro i&ht read ancient

athe atics was an inappropriate interest !or !e ales and wishin& at ni&ht, her !ather too)

readin& the wor)s o! 8ewton and 9uler in her bedroo

awa+ her !ire, li&ht and clothes( :ndaunted, she bundled hersel! in blan)ets and read b+ the li&ht o! !ilched candles while her parents slept(

9"entuall+ /er ain%s !ather lessened his opposition to her stud+ o!

athe atics( 6hen she was

ei&hteen, the ;cole Pol+techni-ue was established as part o! the re"olution%s educational re!or s, but these didn%t e'tend to ad ittin& !e ale students( Althou&h /er ain was denied the pri"ile&e o! attendin& the cole, she was able to obtain the lecture notes o! so e identit+ o! a ale students( Assu in& the e oir on anal+sis to

ale student, 4<( Antoine Au&ust 3e7lanc,5 /er ain sub itted a

Joseph*3ouis 3a&ran&e, which he !ound so outstandin& he wanted to

eet its author( 6hen he

disco"ered the paper was the ori&inal wor) o! a wo an, he beca e her sponsor and introduced her to the co pan+ o! athe aticians and scientists that she could ne"er ha"e aspired to eet on her own(

Since she was could not ta)e the route o! the result that her

ale students, she proceeded on her own course o! stud+ with

athe atics education was so ewhat disor&ani=ed and directionless(

0ntri&ued with >arl #riedrich /auss% nu ber theoretic wor) in his Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, /er ain wrote a do=en letters to hi between 18?@ and 18?A, describin& her own e!!orts in the !ield, (#3.)( She a&ain used the pen na e 4<(

includin& her atte pts to sol"e #er at%s 3ast .heore

3e7lanc,5 !ear!ul that i! it were )nown she was a wo an, she would be i&nored( /auss praised her proo!s and spo)e hi&hl+ o! <( 3e7lanc%s acco plish ents in letters to other ne"er athe aticians( .he two

et, and it wasn%t until a!ter the #rench troops occupied /auss% ho etown o! 7raunschwei& that i&ht e'perience Archi edes% !ate, /er ain would be!all the &reat

he learned her true identit+( >oncerned that /auss

contacted a !a il+ !riend, /eneral Pernet+, &ainin& his assurance that no har

athe atician( 6hen /auss was told that the inter"ention on his behal! was due to Sophie /er ain, he insisted he )new no such person( #inall+ she wrote, con!essin& that she was 4<( 3e7lanc(5 6hen /auss learned that his correspondent was a wo an he was e"en 4A taste !or the abstract sciences in &eneral and abo"e all the ore &enerous in his praise( +steries o! nu bers is e'cessi"el+

rareB one is not astonished at itC the enchantin& char s o! this subli e science re"eal the sel"es onl+ to those who ha"e the coura&e to &o deepl+ into it( 7ut when a person o! the se', which,

accordin& to our custo s and pre1udices,

ust encounter in!initel+

ore di!!iculties than

en to !a iliari=e hersel! with these thorn+ researches, succeeds ne"ertheless in sur ountin& these obstacles and penetratin& the doubt she ost obscure parts o! the , then without

ust ha"e the noblest coura&e, -uite e'traordinar+ talents and a superior &enius( e in so !latterin& and less e-ui"ocal + li!e with so anner that the

0ndeed nothin& could pro"e to

attractions o! this science, which has enriched

an+ 1o+s, are not chi erical,

as the predilection with which +ou ha"e honored it(5

/er ain wrote to Adrien*<arie 3e&endre concernin& her wor) on #er at%s 3ast .heore ( 0 pressed, he credited her with what is now )nown as Germains Theorem in a !ootnote in the second edition o! his boo) Essai sur la Thorie des Nombres( .he theore states that in the case when n is e-ual to

certain pri e nu bers, now called Germain primes, the e-uation xn D yn E zn probabl+ has no solutions( /er ain pri es satis!+ the condition that i! n is pri e, then 2n D 1 ust also be a pri e( .he !irst !ew

/er ain pri es are 2, 3, F, 11, 23, 2A, @1, F3, 83, 8A, and 113( 0n an ele&ant proo!, she showed that i! n as such a pri e, then one o! the three "alues x, y or z ust be a ultiple o! n, &reatl+ restrictin& the

possible "alues !or a solution( 8ot ha"in& access to co puters, /er ain had considerable di!!icult+ in deter inin& when p and 2p D 1 are both pri es( As o! 2??3 the lar&est )nown /er ain pri e consists o! 3@,F@7 di&its( /er ain%s theore separated #3. into two cases, !or nu bers not di"isible b+ F and i&ht !ail !or pri es less

!or those that were di"isible b+ F( As a result the possible instances when #3.

than 1?? were reduced to case nu ber two( 0n 182F, 3e&endre and P( /( 3e1eune ,irichlet independentl+ based their proo!s that the case o! n = 5 had no solutions usin& her techni-ues( 0n 183A /abriel 3a G ade so e in&enious additions to /er ain%s ethod and pro"ed that #3. had no

solutions in the case o! n = ! 6hen /er an ph+sicist 9rnst #(#( >hladni "isited Paris in 18?8, he de onstrated the curious patterns produced on s all &lass plates co"ered with sand, which could be pla+ed li)e "iolins with a bow( .he

sand

o"ed about until it reached the nodes( 8apoleon authori=ed the #rench Acade + o! Sciences to athe atical e'planation o! this pheno enon( .he challen&e was to

o!!er a pri=e !or the best 4!or ulate a

athe atical theor+ o! elastic sur!aces and indicate how it a&rees with e pirical athe aticians i&nored the contest, belie"in& the athe atics needed to !or ulate

e"idence(5 <ost

such a theor+ didn%t e'ist( /er ain%s anon+ ous 1811 entr+ was the onl+ one, and her lac) o! a !or al education was e"ident, so she did not win the pri=e( .he 1ud&es !ound ar&u ent, notin& that she had not deri"ed her h+pothesis !ro stud+ didn%t include the athe atical athe atical !laws in her

principles o! ph+sics( /er ain%s sel!* olecular structure theor+ !or

ethodolo&ies appropriate to the

aterials, then in "o&ue( 2owe"er, these

ethods were o! no use in e'plainin& the pheno ena in

-uestion, so /er ain brou&ht ori&inal insi&hts to the proble (

.he 1ud&es, especiall+ 3a&ran&e, ad ired /er ain%s ori&inalit+( 2e corrected an error in her calculations and de"ised an e-uation that he thou&ht !or sub ittin& theories was e'tended two i&ht describe >hladni%s patterns( .he deadline

ore +ears( Hnce a&ain /er ain was the onl+ one to sub it

an entr+( 0n it, she de onstrated that 3a&ran&e%s e-uation +ielded >hladni%s patterns in se"eral cases, but because she was not able to o!!er a satis!actor+ deri"ation o! the e-uation !ro her wor) recei"ed onl+ an honorable ph+sical principles,

ention( .he contest was reopened in 181F, at which ti e

/er ain%s third atte pt was dee ed worth+ o! the pri=e, althou&h still considered lac)in& in ri&or( .hou&h this was the hi&h point o! her scienti!ic career, she did not attend the award%s cere on+, belie"in& that the 1ud&es did not !ull+ appreciate her wor) and that the scienti!ic co show her the proper respect( /er ain continued to wor) in cancer, at a&e FF( She died be!ore an honorar+ doctorate in her b+ /auss, could be awarded( unit+ did not breast

athe atics until her death !ro athe atics !ro

/Ittin&en, arran&ed !or

Quotation of the Day: 4Al&ebra is but written &eo etr+ and &eo etr+ is but !i&ured al&ebra(5

Sophie /er ain(