Nothing Stopped Sophie by Cheryl Bardoe

While many young girls today struggle at mathematics, history has recorded some women who made great contributions to the discipline. One such person was Sophie Germain, a French mathematician and physicist. She was born into a wealthy family in 1776 in Rue Denis, in Paris, France, to Ambroise-Francois Germain and Marie-Madelaine Gruguelin. It is believed her father was a silk merchant. He eventually became the director of the Bank of France.

Sophie lived during a tumultuous time of revolution. She was born the year of the American Revolution and was thirteen-years-old when the French Revolution began in her own country of France. Living in such an era likely had a strong influence on her to challenge the social norms of the times.

Forced to remain at home during the early revolution, Sophie began to read from her father's extensive library. Reading L'Histoire des Mathematiques by Montucla led Sophie to read a story describing the death of Archimedes at the hands of a Roman soldier during the capture of Syracuse.  This motivated her to study mathematics and she also taught herself Latin and Greek which offered her the opportunity to study the works of mathematicians like Euler and scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton.

At this time it was not acceptable for a young girl to be interested in mathematics and her parents did everything to discourage her from continuing her studies. Sophie was kept in her room, and was denied warm clothing and firewood to keep herself warm. But Sophie persisted and her parents relented.

It was also not possible for a young woman to attend school so when the Ecole Polytechnique opened in 1794, Sophie was not able to attend lectures. She was eighteen by this time and very determined. Since notes from classes at the Ecole were made available to those who were interested, Sophie managed to obtain them. She was particularly interested in the lectures of J.L. Lagrange to whom she sent her observations about his lectures under the pseudonym of Monsieur Antoine-August LeBlanc. He in turn, was intrigued by the unknown writer's paper and managed to track down the identity to Sophie. Fortunately, Monsieur Lagrange was impressed and became Sophie's mentor.

Sophie became interested in number theory, corresponding with Adrien-Marie Legendre and later on Carl Frederich Gauss. When the latter mathematician eventually learned he had been corresponding with a young woman he remarked, "How can I describe my astonishment and admiration on seeing my esteemed correspondent M leBlanc metamorphosed into this celebrated person. . . when a woman, because of her sex, our customs and prejudices, encounters infinitely more obstacles than men in familiarising herself with [number theory's] knotty problems, yet overcomes these fetters and penetrates that which is most hidden, she doubtless has the most noble courage, extraordinary talent, and superior genius."

Sophie also became interested in elasticity and entered the Paris Academy of Science's contest to find a solution to a problem regarding Ernst Chladni's experiments with vibrating plates. Her initial entries did not win but after further work, Sophie did claim the prize, in 1815, becoming the first woman to do so. She was unable to claim her prize publicly because women were forbidden to enter the Academy of Science unless they were the wife of a member.

Sophie later on became interested in a mathematical problem called Fermat's Last Theorem. She wrote  a potential solution to the problem, which although weak did advance mathematicians towards their goal of solving this problem.

Sophie died in 1831, after suffering from breast cancer. While ill she continued her work in mathematics and philosophy, a mathematician to the very end.


Discussion

The story of mathematician Sophie German is a remarkable one. She lived during a time when it was not acceptable for women to be interested in the sciences and when expectations for women were limited only to family and the home.

Bardoe captures all of the important events in Sophie Germain's life in her exquisite picture book. Her account focuses on Sophie's determination to pursue her love of mathematics despite all of the obstacles placed in front of her. She was not allowed an education in mathematics, she had few mentors and those that she often wrote to did not respond back, especially if they learned their correspondent was a young woman. Even when she was successful, that success was only grudgingly acknowledged by her peers. The lesson here for young, budding women scientists and mathematicians, is to be persistent and to find those who will support you in developing your interest. Hopefully, your parents will be more supportive than Sophie's parents were!

Nothing Stopped Sophie is illustrated by awarding -winning author and illustrator Barbara McClintock. In her note at the back McClintock reveals how she developed the illustrations for the story. McClintock used "colorful markers, gouache, and collage" to capture the story in what she describes as a nonliteral visual way. For example, McClintock illustration of Sophie receiving the academy's prize shows "Sophie's winning formula flows out of her pen around the all-male members of the academy, the top hats and coattails flying in the gale of numbers." McClintock's colourful illustrations capture Sophie's struggles but also the joy she found in mathematics.

Book Details:

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain by Cheryl Bardoe
New York: Little, Brown and Company      2018