Happy birthday to French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Marie-Sophie Germain (1776 – 1831), known as Sophie. She taught herself mathematics using books in her father’s library and by corresponding with leading mathematicians of her day, including Lagrange, Legendre and Gauss, initially using the pseudonym Monsieur LeBlanc. 1/n
#linocut #printmaking #sciart #mathart #SophieGermain #ChladniFigures #mathematician #Fermat #womenInSTEM #physicist
Her work on elasticity theory won her the grand prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences. Her trailblazing work on Fermat’s Last Theorem set out a strategy and framework for mathematicians pursuing the problem for hundreds of years. She was denied a formal mathematics education or professional standing due to her sex, but Gauss, the leading mathematician of her day argued she deserved an honorary degree (though it was never granted). 2/3
The print alludes to her work on elasticity theory with Chladni figures in lavender and the words are from her own manuscript on Fermat’s Last Theorem. Each print is 11” by 14” and printed by hand on ivory Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper.
https://minouette.etsy.com/listing/982235389
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