Volume: 73; 2012; 279 pp; Hardcover
Print ISBN: 978-0-88385-577-5
Product Code: SPEC/73
List Price: $43.00
AMS Member Price: $32.25
MAA Member Price: $32.25
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-61444-510-4
Product Code: SPEC/73.E
List Price: $43.00
AMS Member Price: $32.25
MAA Member Price: $32.25
Sophie’s Diary: A Mathematical Novel: Second Edition
Share this pageDora Musielak
MAA Press: An Imprint of the American Mathematical Society
Sophie Germain overcame gender stigmas and a lack of formal education
to prove that for all prime exponents less than 100 Case I of Fermat's
Last Theorem holds. Hidden behind a man's name, her brilliance as
mathematician was first discovered by three of the greatest scholars
of the eighteenth century, Lagrange, Gauss, and Legendre.
In Sophie's Diary, Germain comes to life through
a fictionalized journal that intertwines mathematics with historical
descriptions of the brutal events that took place in Paris between
1789 and 1793. This format provides a plausible perspective of how a
young Sophie could have learned mathematics on her own—both fascinated
by numbers and eager to master tough subjects without a teacher's
guidance. Her passion for mathematics is integrated into her personal
life as an escape from societal outrage. Sophie's Diary is suitable
for a variety of readers—both young and old, mathematicians and
novices—who will be inspired and enlightened on a field of study made
easy, as told through the intellectual and personal struggles of an
exceptional young woman.
Reviews & Endorsements
While this is a work of fiction, literally every entry in the "diary" of Sophie Germain could plausibly be true. Germain was a woman that grew up in France in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when the social norms were that women did not engage in intellectual pursuits. These norms were strongly enforced; it was very difficult for a woman to get any kind of an education in mathematics or any other science. … The entries of this diary, which end in 1794, are a combination of Sophie describing her discoveries and difficulties while learning mathematics as well as the events of the revolution taking place all around her. Even though mathematics by itself is free of politics and other human foibles, it always operates within the historical context, if only because the people that do it are humans operating in a society. This is a great novel; it is accurate enough to be a reference in a history of math course, which is highly unusual for a work of fiction.
-- Charles Ashbacher, Journal of Recreational Mathematics
Reading a diary is such a verboten act! But reading Sophie's Diary should not be. Dora Musielak has given us a delightful book of imaginings of mathematician Sophie Germain's mind during the late 18th century. … The inclusion of history enhances the book substantially. The author does a nice job of interspersing the history with the mathematics, and the interplay makes the novel more believable as a diary and helps keep the reader's attention. Mathematically, the book begins with definitions of rational, irrational and prime, and musings on how to solve linear and quadratic equations. … She does a nice job of spiraling the topic of prime numbers, returning throughout the book at more and more depth as Sophie's mathematical maturity increases.
-- John J. Watkins, Mathematical Reviews
Sophie's Diary is a mathematical novel inspired by the life of the French mathematician Sophie Germain (1776–1831), the first woman to win the Prix de Mathematiques awarded by the Institute de France. This fictional diary presents a plausible explanation of how a young Parisian girl could have learned mathematics between 1789 and 1794, during the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Through a young girl's journal, the author weaves together Sophie's process of learning advanced mathematics on her own while growing up during this extremely volatile period of France's history. … Sophie's Diary is an inspirational story that portrays the learning of complex mathematics as “exhilarating” and related to the natural world around us. I highly recommend this book.
-- Christine Hebert, Mathematics Teacher
Table of Contents
Sophie's Diary: A Mathematical Novel: Second Edition
- cover cover11
- copyright page ii3
- title page iii4
- Paris, France: 1789 xi12
- Paris, France: 1790 4760
- Paris, France: 1791 93106
- Paris, France: 1792 131144
- Paris, France: 1793 171184
- Paris, France: 1794 213226
- Appendices 241254