By Lucy

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Sophie Germain

• By Lucy Fiona

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She wrote an essay and sent it off to a
mathematician called Joseph-Louis Lagrange under
the name of Monsieur Le Blanc. He was so
impressed by her essay that he demanded to meet
Le Blanc.
Marie-Sophie Germain was born on the 1st of April
1776 in Paris.
Sophie was forced to reveal who she really was
and Lagrange offered to be her mentor.
1789 - When she was 13 she read about Archimedes
(a famous mathematician) and was influenced by
him so much so she decided to become one herself.
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1804 After studying a textbook by Carl
Friedrich Gauss she wrote to him, again using the
name Monsieur Le Blanc.
1808 Gauss got the job of professor of
astronomy at the university of Göttingen and he
stopped replying to Sophies letters.
She finally admitted to him that she was female
when his birthplace was invaded by Napoleon and
she gave him a place to keep safe.
In 1811 she entered the French Academy of
Sciences contest. After losing many times she
eventually won in 1816, which brought her into
the ranks of great mathematicians.
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Sophie's Equation
The Sophie Germain Prime
She came up with the theory that if p is a prime
number then 2p 1 is also a prime. This can be
proven incorrect
7 is a prime number 7 x 2 is 14 14
1 15 15 isnt a prime as it can be divided
by both 5 and 3
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In 1830, the University of Göttingen decided to
award Sophie an honorary degree, but
unfortunately, she never managed to receive it
personally as she died from breast cancer on June
27, 1831. A crater on Venus was named in her
honor.
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Thank you, The End