Sophie Germain

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Sophie Germain

• By Mark S

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Information
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When Where was she Born?

• Sophie Germain was born on the 1st April 1776.
• She was born in Paris, France
• Her mother was called Marie Germain and her
  father was called Ambroise-Francois.
• She was a middle class women.

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When was the interest?

• Sophie took interest in maths at the age of 13
  during the French Revolution.
• She used to go into her fathers library and read
  some books.
• One day she came across a book about a legendary
  mathematician called Archimede.

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How did this inspire her?

• When she found out that Archimede did not listen
  to soldiers and die for something that he was so
  immersed in then this was when she decided that
  Maths must be interesting.

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The Studying

• Sophie then started to self educate herself
  mathematics at home using her fathers library.
• Her parents believed that it was inappropriate
  for her to be taking the keen interest she was in
  maths this was the belief of middle-class
  families in the 19th Century
• They tried to get her to study something else
  instead.

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What she did instead

• She then studied at night to escape her family
  like a secret so they couldnt find out.
• Eventually, Sophies parents found out about her
  late night studying and punished her they took
  her clothes off her and cut off her heat and
  light at night so she couldnt get out and study.

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The fight back

• Her parents failed their punishment as Sophie
  used her quilt to heat her and candles she had
  hidden for light.
• Her parents then gave into their daughters love
  for maths and let her study.

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The New Academy

• Ecole Polytechnique

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The New Academy

• When Sophie was 18 their was an academy opened to
  train mathematicians and scientists
• Although, Sophie was not allowed to enroll in
  this academy because she was a women.
• Despite this, Sophie got the notes from lectures
  anyway

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J.L. Lagrange
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J.L. Lagrange

• Sophie was interested in J.L. Lagrange.
• After studying a lot of her course notes, Sophie
  sent a letter to J.L. Lagrange.
• She wrote under the name, M LeBlanc to hide her
  identity.
• Lagrange was delighted with Sophie's letter and
  wanted to meet the person who wrote this letter.
• He was overwhelmed that the letter had been
  written by a girl.
• After this, J.L. Lagrange became Sophie's tutor.

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Carl Friedrich Gauss

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1804

• In 1804, Sophie then was inspired by another
  mathematician - Carl Friedrich Gauss
• She was inspired by his number theory and again
  sent a letter to Carl on her number theory.
• But it wasnt till 3 years later that Carl found
  out that his friend was actually a gifted women.
• Eventually, Carl became a Professor in Astronomy
  in a University.
• Sophie was now looking for a new mentor

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The Researching For the Academy

• There was a project from the Academy that had
  been open a few years earlier that Sophie could
  not enter.
• She entered the competition 3 times.
• The 1st time she entered she was the only entry,
  despite this she still did not win the prize due
  to her lack of education
• The 2nd time, Lagrange corrected her errors and
  she entered again and received an honourable
  mention.
• The 3rd time she entered she was recognized fully
  and won the prize.

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The Prize

• Because Sophie won the competition, she was
  awarded a place in the academy.
• She was the only female to become a student of
  the arena without being the wife of a student
  already there a male.

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The Death

• Sophie Germain died on June 27, 1831.
• She was 55 years old.
• She died due to a battle with breast cancer.
• Before she died, Her former tutor, Carl Gauss had
  asked the academy to give Sophie Germain an
  honorary degree.
• Sophie died before she could receive the award.

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Thank you for reading/listening