Marie-Sophie Germain (shown in figure 1) was born April 1, 1776 in Paris, France. She was the middle child of Ambroise- Francois, a wealthy silk-merchant and French politician, and Marie-Madelaine Gruguelin. When Sophie was 13, she read an account of the death of Archimedes at the hands of a Roman solider. This is said to be when Sophie knew that she wanted to become a mathematician. To fulfill her dream, Sophie taught herself Latin and Greek so she could read traditional mathematical writings. She often read Newton and Euler at night while her parents slept. Unfortunately, her parents did not support her in her studies and they did whatever they could to try to and stop her from learning mathematics. Sophie never gave up. At night, they took away her lights, candles, and clothes to try to keep her from her books. Sophie always …show more content…
“In 1829, Sophie Germain learned that she had breast cancer. Even with her diagnosis, she continued her work and in 1831, published her paper on the curvature of elastic surfaces. She also published principles of examination that would later lead to the discovery of laws of equilibrium and the movement of elastic solids.” Later in life, she reconnected with Gauss who convinced the University he worked at to give her an honorary degree. Unfortunately, Germain died on June 27, 1831” at the age of 55 in Paris, France before the University could present her with her degree (pbs.org). Because of the bias of her gender, her death certificate did not list Germain as a Mathematician but instead, as a “single woman with no profession (Chodos).” Although Germain worked all of her life dedicated to math, because of her gender, she was not taken seriously by most and encountered numerous struggles throughout her life and had to work harder than most just to be taken seriously and have her work looked