American Revolution Sophie Germain Biography

Sophie Germain was born to her parents Ambroise-Francious and Marie Germain on April 1st, 1776. She was born in Paris, France to her wealthy family. Her father was a merchant, but later on become a director of a big bank called simply the Bank of France. She was raised in an era of revolution. When Sophie was born the American Revolution was going on. The American Revolution was uproar between the colonist of the thirteen colonies rejecting British monarchy and aristocracy. When Sophie was thirteen years old the start of the French Revolution occurred in her country. The French Revolution was overthrowing the monarchy, due to government being in so much debt and unable to restore taxes. Since she was a female in the time of revolution, she …show more content…
Since she was confined to her home, she spent a lot of her time in her father’s library. One book specifically caught her interest. In the book it talked about how Archimedes, an Ancient Greek god for mathematics, was sparred to death over him studying a geometric figure instead of responding to a Roman soldier. Reading the book about him instantly made her excited to learn more. Germain would then go into her father’s library to find books to teach herself the rules of mathematics. Being a female in the nineteenth century was not easy. Her parents felt that her interest was inappropriate for her gender and made sure they would do their best to discourage her. For a while she would study at night once her parents went to bed. A little while later her parents caught her doing that. Her parents would go to the extreme of taking her bed clothes along with her source of heat, to make sure she would stay in bed. That still did not stop her. She would take quilts and candles and remain hidden just to study at night. Her parents eventually realized that her interest for mathematics was unbelievably strong. Although, the French Revolution was going on that did not stop her from learning about differential …show more content…
Ecole Polytechnique was an academy specially to train mathematicians and scientists of the country. Unfornately, women were not allowed to take classes, but Sophie was able to get the lecture notes and study off them. In the lectures she would receive each one would have a mathecician of the day. She grew fondly of J.L. Lagrange, an Italian Enligenment Era mathematician and astromer. She sent him an analysis paper, which caught his interest not only because she was female, but also because of her abilities. Lagrange wanted to become her mentor, but she was not high class the opportunity was not available to