Sophie Germain

If women couldn't attend the academy, how did Sophie Garmain learn Math?

• She gained support through her gifts of writing and knowledge.

This week's Math spotlight is

Sophie Germain

Her discovery of Mathematics

• After finding Archimedes really interesting, she started to teach herself Math using her dad's books

Can you think of your first experience learning Math?

Sophie Germain also depicted a quality of perseverance for three years as she submitted for a mathematical prize. Each time she did not receive the prize, she went back and reflected on the strategies she could continue to learn.

After three years, she won the contest with her paper on the Memoir on the Vibrations of Plates.

She had great contribution in the theory of elasticity through her memoirs and research.

In her works, she was often invited to the Institute of France to attend their sessions. This was "the highest honor that this famous body ever conferred on a women."

• She enjoyed learning Math so much that her parents even tried to stop her from studying at night

Who is Sophie Germain?

Up until this point, Germain's social status and gender were keeping her from studying the Mathematical content she wanted to learn more about.

Turn and talk with your partner, why do you think this was considered a high honor?

• When Sophie was 18, there was a Math academy meant to "train mathematicians and scientists for the country."

Now, she had more support to continue her learning of number theory, and she continued to use a pseudonym to be pen pals with a famous German Mathematician, Carl Freidrich Gauss.

Like Sophie Germain, how can we reflect on our Math learning? What strategies can we continue to understand better?

Math thinking points:

1) How did Sophie Germain impact Mathematics?

2) Why is she an important part of history?

• However during this era, women were not able to attend the academy

Sophie Germain not only helped with her work in number theory and theory of elasticity, but she also is known for her battle against social prejudices.

Amidst all her perseverance to be a celebrated, women Mathematician, Sophie Germain passed away at the age of 55 after a battle with breast cancer.

Germain is well known for her contribution to Fermat's last theorem for the case where n equals 5. She contributed if x,y, and z are integers and if x^5+ y^5= z^5 , then either x, y, and z must be divisible by 5.

Who is Sophie Germain?

Her Mathematical work is applied today in constructing skyscrapers, and also within vibration patterns in acoustic music.

• Further thinking: Why weren't women allowed to attend schools at the time?

As Sophie Germain's life shows us, Math and Writing are both essential tools of our learning. They CAN go together!

Resources

Free- Write Journal Entry

www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/germain.htm

www.sdsc.edu/edu/ScienceWomen/germain.html

www.mathworld.wolfram.com/SophieGermainPrime.html

www.britannica.com

www.math.wichita.edu/history/women/germain.html

Need a thought? Think about ....

One important fact you learned today and why it was important

Why do you think women, like Sophie Germain, had a hard time being accepted in Mathematics?

Do you think it is important to learn about past Mathematicians? Why or why not?

As a mathematician, what is one strategy you can continue to get better at? How are you going to practice?

Let's review Fermat's last theorem- what is Fermat's last theorem?

• Sophie Germain was born on April 1, 1776 in Paris, France

• Her male mentor helped her to gain lecture notes from the academy.

• Let's make a connection: How many years ago was Sophie Germain born?

• At the end of the class term she submitted a paper to the professor using a male pseudonym.

• She grew up in a wealthy family, and her father was director of the Bank of France

What is a pseudonym? Why did she use a pseudonym instead of her actual name?

• Turn and talk: Do you think this could have been an influence on her Math success?

• At age thirteen, her family was affected by the French Revolution

• She had a male mentor who would help her study and receive Math lessons.

• The professor was impressed with the paper and he wanted to meet with the student who wrote it. He was very shocked to discover the student wasn't a male, but she was a female who was very passionate about Mathematics.

• Her home was endangered and she spent a lot of her time in her father's library

She gained her first interest in Math after finding a book about the famous mathematician Archimedes