This back to school season, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. Today's Womanican is Sophie Germain (1776-1831). She was a French mathematician and physicist who contributed to the study of acoustics, elasticity, and number theory. She was forced to assume a fake male identity to have her work taken seriously, but her efforts paved the way for further breakthrough discoveries in mathematics.
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This month, we’re heading back to school – and we’re taking you along with us! For all of September, we’ll be bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. You’ll hear me – and some talented guest hosts – share both iconic and under-appreciated stories. But there’s a twist... each week is dedicated to a different school subject. This week: Women you should be learning about in math classes!
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Lauren Willams, and Adrien Behn. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Hey listeners, it's Jenny. This month, we're heading back to school and we're taking you along with us. For all of September, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. You'll hear me and some talented guest hosts share both iconic and underappreciated stories, and there's a twist. Each week is dedicated to a different school subject. This week women you should be learning about in math class. These womanquin stories show us just how exciting and diverse math really can be. So here's one of our favorite womaniquins. Hello for Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica. This month we're talking about women of sound. These women dominated the airwaves, innovating, documenting, and creating the audio landscape we live in today. In eighteen oh eight, the German physicist earned To Claudney stood in front of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Academy of Science in Paris. Claudney poured a fine layer of sand over a plate and then ran a bou along its edge. The plate emitted a tone. In response to the sound, the sand began to jump and move, forming intricate geometric patterns. Amazed, Napoleon proposed a prize to any mathematician who could make sense of this phenomenon. Today, we're talking about the woman who won that prize, Sophie Germann. Sophie was born in seventeen seventy six in Paris, France, to a wealthy family. From a young age, Sophie loved to read books in her father's library. One day, she came across the story of Archimedes, the famous Greek mathematician known for his analysis of the Lover and pulley. As the story went, Archimedes had been so engrossed in his mathematical study that when his town was invaded by the Roman army, he didn't notice, and he was speared to death on the spot. Sophia was struck by how deeply invested Archimedes had been in his practice. He'd been so consumed that he'd died. Sophia knew she had to see what the fuss was all about, So Sophie started teaching herself the basics of mathematics. She would study late into the night by candlelight, reading books by famous theorists like Euler and Newton. At the time, it was frowned upon for women to learn subjects like math and science, they were only deemed fit for men. Sophie's parents discouraged her unladylike fascination with mathematics by confiscating all of her candles and putting out the fire at night, but Sophie wasn't easily dissuaded. She kept a secret stash of candles in her room and bundled up in a quilt to stay warm. Sometimes it got so cold that the ink froze in the inkwell, Sophie persisted. In seventeen ninety four, a new academy called a col Polytechnique opened in Paris. It was meant to be a place of study for the most talented mathematicians and scientists in the nation, but only men were allowed to attend. Sophie circumvented this requirement by taking on the identity of a former male student, Monsieur le Blanc. Unaware that this Monsieur LeBlanc was actually a young woman, The school printed extra lecture notes and horse materials for him, allowing Sophie to keep up with the classes. One of Sophie's teachers, Professor Lagrange, was so impressed with this so called Monsieur LeBlanc's work that he asked to meet in person. Sophie could hide her secret no longer and revealed her true identity to the professor. Perhaps surprisingly, the professor supported her aspirations and remained a mentor and resource. Sophie took a particular interest in number theory, and there was one number theory problem of vexing mathematicians at the time. In the seventeenth century, the French mathematician Pierre de Ferma proposed what's known as Fermah's last theorem. You're probably familiar with the Pythagorean theorem that is, A squared plus b squared equal c squared. Well, Fairmah posited that if the power is any number greater than two, then the equation is no longer valid. It was simple to show that was indeed the case, but it was incredibly hard to prove the principle behind why it didn't work. Fairmah himself never provided the proof. Sophie was determined to uncover it, so in eighteen oh four, Sophie returned to using her pseudonym and struck up a correspondence with Carl Gus, a renowned German mathematician, an authority on number theory, to discuss some of her work on the proof. Sophie's true identity was also eventually revealed to Carl Fortunately, he too continued to encourage her work. In the end, Sophie was able to construct part of the missing proof. The problem would continue to stump mathematicians for another century. Her breakthrough helped lead to the discovery of the complete proof in the mid nineteen nineties. Sophie then turned her attention to another prominent mathematical puzzle of the day, the Claudney figures. In response to the French Academy of Sciences contest, Sophie explored mathematical explanations as to why sound vibrations caused the intricate shifting patterns in the sand. It took Sophie three tries, but on her third submission, the Academy agreed that her thesis, memoir on the vibrations of elastic plates was worthy of recognition. In eighteen sixteen, and under her own name to Boot, Sophie Germonn became the first woman to be awarded a prize by the Academy. Her pioneering work and understanding the physics of vibration, acoustics and the elasticity of surfaces changed the course of how we understand sound. Even still, Sophia remained isolated and sidelined from academic circles, but always dogged. She managed to become the first woman on her own merit to attend lectures at the French Academy of Science. She did have some allies in her corner. Carl Gauss arranged for a German university to bestow her with an honorary degree, but before she could receive it, she died of breast cancer at the age of fifty five. Thanks for listening to this best of episode of Womanica. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast Special Thanks to lose Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator, join us tomorrow for another one of our favorite episodes, honoring the back to school season. Talk to you then,