Sophie Germain

Marie-Sophie Germain was a French mathematician, physicist and philosopher, born in Paris in 1776 and dying in 1831. Despite initial opposition from her parents, she gained her education from books in her father's library and from correspondence, under the pseudonym Monsieur Le Blanc, with famous mathematicians such as Lagrange, Legendre and Gauss. One of the pioneers of elasticity theory, she won the grand prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her essay on the subject, and her work on Fermat's Last Theorem gave later mathematicians a foundation to build on. Because of prejudice against her sex she was unable to make a career of mathematics and worked independently throughout her life. The Academy of Sciences later established the Sophie Germain Prize in her honour.