#Mathematicians

[lascitasdelashoras]

Mathematicians Collection' by Hydrogene

[mysharona1987]

[spring-of-mathematics]

Happy International Women in Math Day ! 12/05

Today, we remember Maryam Mirzakhani and the impact she had (and continues to have) on women in math.

SEE MORE at: 11 Famous Women Mathematicians and Their Incredible Contributions! by Anthony Persico

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Marguerite Frank

Marguerite Frank was born in Paris in 1927. Frank is a mathematician who has discovered new classes of simple Lie algebras. She is also known for being the co-creator of the Frank-Wolfe algorithm, a method for constrained convex optimization. In recent years, this method has garnered significant interest in the area of machine learning.

[city-of-ladies]

Mathematician, physician and philosopher (1776-1831), Sophie Germain was a genius who fought hard to be heard a recognized.

A self-taught prodigy 

The daughter of a silk merchant, Sophie was born in Paris to a relatively wealthy family. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, her father became a member of the Constituent Assembly. Amidst the chaos, Sophie found solace in her father's library and discovered mathematics.

Fascinated by the subject, she learned everything she could, studying at night. Her parents disapproved. Mathematics was thought to be too complex for women who had to focus first and foremost on their home.

Sophie's parents tried to stop her by putting out the fire in her room at night and confiscating her clothes and candles after nightfall. Sophie's thirst for knowledge was stronger. According to her obituary, she studied “at night in a room so cold that the ink often froze in its well, working enveloped with covers by the light of a lamp”. She even taught herself Latin to read the essential works.

Sophie impresses

The École Polytechnique was founded in 1974 with to train a new elite of engineers, mathematicians and scientists. Being a woman, Sophie couldn’t attend. She learned that a student named Leblanc wasn’t able to go to class. She wrote to the school, pretending to be him, and managed to obtain lecture notes. She was also able to complete and submit assignments. 

This promising student impressed mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange who found her answers brilliant. The self-taught Sophie had gained the admiration of one of the most renowned mathematicians of her time.

Lagrange's desire to meet her forced Sophie to reveal her real identity. Lagrange was at first surprised to learn that his correspondent was a woman. He nonetheless became Sophie’s mentor, introducing her to a new world and opportunities.

Sophie made major contributions to number theory. She worked on Fermat's last theorem, making major observations and creating her own theorem. This would be one of her major contributions to mathematics.

In 1804, she began a correspondence with another mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose work she admired. He was similarly impressed by her intelligence:

“But how to describe to you my admiration and astonishment at seeing my esteemed correspondent Monsieur Leblanc metamorphose himself into this illustrious personage who gives such a brilliant example of what I would find it difficult to believe. A taste for the abstract sciences in general and above all the mysteries of numbers is excessively rare: one is not astonished at it: the enchanting charms of this sublime science reveal only to those who have the courage to go deeply into it. But when a person of the sex which, according to our customs and prejudices, must encounter infinitely more difficulties than men to familiarize herself with these thorny researches, succeeds nevertheless in surmounting these obstacles and penetrating the most obscure parts of them, then without doubt she must have the noblest courage, quite extraordinary talents and superior genius.”

An incomplete recognition

Sophie was also interested in physics. In 1811, she entered a contest held by the French Academy of Sciences, but her lack of formal education turned against her. She didn't give up and won the contest in 1816 with her Memoir on the vibrations of Elastic Plates. She kept working on the theory of elasticity and published several more memoirs. Her work would prove pivotal in the field.

This prize also meant official recognition for Sophie. In 1823, she became the first woman to be allowed at the Academy of Sciences' sessions. Though respected as an equal collaborator by some, she still felt like a “foreigner” in the scientific community.

Sophie Germain died at the age of 55, on June 27, 1831, after a battle with breast cancer. Carl Friedrich Gauss had convinced the university of the University of Gottingen to give her an honorary degree but Sophie was dead before she could receive it.

Her death certificate designated her as a "rentière-annuitant" (a single woman with no profession) instead of a mathematician. 

Today, a street in Paris, schools in France and a crater on Venus are named in her honor. She appeared on a French postal stamp released in 2016.

Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi if you like what I do! Your support would be greatly appreciated.

Further reading 

Alkalay-Houlihan Coleen, “Sophie Germain and special cases of Fermat’s last theorem”

Boyé Anne,, “Sophie Germain, une mathématicienne face aux préjugés de son temps”

“Biographies of women mathematicians : Sophie Germain”

Lamboley Gilbert, “Math’s hidden woman”

Koppe Martin, “Sophie Germain, une pionnière enfin reconnue”

[positivelyprime]

Merry christmas to all who celebrate!

Among the people celebrating christmas some 400 years ago was Pierre de Fermat, who proved his *christmas theorem* this day!

Fermat's christmas theorem, better known as the two squares theorem, says that a prime number p can be expressed as a sum of two squares, i.e. p = a² + b², if and only if p is 1 mod 4.

Look at this jolly fellow

[bingsoo-jung]

Question for my other mathematicians

I want to prove something

[humormehorny]

Yo math people, what was your first proof?

[trojanteapot]

Can we talk about this portrait of Mathematician Adrien-Marie Legendre?

Why is nobody talking about this portrait of Adrien-Marie Legendre???

Like the fact that somebody thought a portrait of a different Legendre was him but actually it wasn't.

This random ass doodle is the only existing portrait of him omg.

[dance-of-moonlight]

mathematician and philosopher frank ramsey is my fancast for henry winter

[ksodirty]

[mistertotality]

Successfully trying out a few new coding techniques seemed like a fitting way to celebrate Alan Turing's birthday.

I successfully automated 9 additional processes today with fewer than 25 lines of code.

[everythingismadeofchaos]

Does math make anybody here wet?

This video will force you to hire a maid

[virginmaruja]

Math Mayhem

Dear Brujas,

Here's something about me; I don't know how to do math. I'm so stupid, it's actually shameful.

I failed my college math class and now I'm retaking it. On top of that, I already have an F in this stupid retake class. I actually hope I fucking die, this is so STUPID. IM STUPID, STUPID STUPID STUPID!

Why the fuck am I finding x and y when I should be finding a dad that loves me like DAMN

So, if theres any mathematicians that would like to help me through my math 126 class, I would greatly appreciate it. I can't pay you, but out of the kindness of your own heart, help a wonderful girl with aspirations and goals out with this stupid math class.

(I actually mean that so sincerely. Please, if someone is willing to help, message me or comment or something.)

Song of the post:

Sincerely, Bruja Maruja

[arehera]

looking up quotes from mathematicians and I don't think any of them will beat when the University of Göttingen was debating whether to make Emmy Noether a professor and David Hilbert said "Gentlemen, the faculty is not a pool changing room"