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Sophie Germain Presented by: Terri-Ann, Allison and Caroline

Sophie Germain Presented by: Terri-Ann, Allison and Caroline. Who Was Sophie Germain?. Sophie was born in Paris on April 1, 1776 and died at the age of 55, on June 27, 1831, after a battle with breast cancer.

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Sophie Germain Presented by: Terri-Ann, Allison and Caroline

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  1. Sophie GermainPresented by: Terri-Ann, Allison and Caroline

  2. Who Was Sophie Germain? • Sophie was born in Paris on April 1, 1776 and died at the age of 55, on June 27, 1831, after a battle with breast cancer. • She came from a middle-class family, her father being a merchant and later he became director of the Bank of France

  3. Who Was Sophie Germain? • The year of her birth the American Revolution began and when she turned 13 the French Revolution began in her country. • Just like the era she was born into, Sophie also had the spirit of revolution within her and fought hard to overcome social prejudices

  4. Who Was Sophie Germain? • While Sophie was restricted to her home due to the danger resulting from the revolts in Paris she spent time in her father’s library • After stumbling across a book about the legend of Archimedes death, who was speared to death because of his love for math, Sophie’s interest in the subject began.

  5. Who Was Sophie Germain? • She began to teach herself mathematics in her father’s library • This interest was inappropriate for females during this time and her parents did many things to deter her and make studying difficult

  6. Who Was Sophie Germain? • In addition, because of her social location (middle class) it was also inappropriate for her to casually learn math for that was reserved for aristocratic women • Despite her parents disapproval and societal discrimination, she did not give up and initially studied differential calculus without a tutor

  7. Who Was Sophie Germain? • In 1794 the Ecole Polytechnique was founded in Paris to train mathematicians and scientists • At the time, Sophie was 18 and because she was a woman she was not allowed to enroll • Somehow she was able to get the lecture notes from several math courses taught by prominent mathematicians and studied from them

  8. Who Was Sophie Germain? • Sophie had a special interest in the teachings of a mathematician, J. L. Lagrange • One day she submitted a mathematical analysis paper to him using a name of one of his former male students

  9. Who Was Sophie Germain? • Lagrange was so impressed with the paper he read and wanted to meet the student who wrote it • He was even more impressed after discovering the author was female • Lagrange recognized her abilities, offered to be her mentor and became her entry point in the male-dominated realm of math and science

  10. Who Was Sophie Germain? • In 1804, Sophie started corresponding with the most famous mathematician of the time, Carl Friedrich Gauss • Intrigued with his work in number theory, she disguised her identity and sent him results of her work in the subject

  11. Who Was Sophie Germain? • Impressed with her work, Gauss guided her research for 4 years • Sophie's most important contribution in the field of math occurred after making contact with mathematician Legendre • She proved one of math's most mysterious and unresolved problems at the time: Fermat’s last theorem

  12. URL • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiGOxGEbaik

  13. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain_prime • Women Scientist http://www.womeninscience.co.uk/bios.html • Sophie Germain Prime Swift, Amanda (1995) http://www.agnesscott.edu/Lriddle/WOMEN/germain.htm

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