WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS 157 



Academy because she was a woman? It would seem so. 

 If such, indeed, was the case, more is the shame for those 

 who were responsible for such ingratitude toward one who 

 had deserved so well of science, and who by her achieve- 

 ments had won an enviable place in the hall of fame. 1 



Four years after the birth of Sophie Germain was born 

 in Jedburgh, Scotland, one whom an English writer has 

 declared was "the most remarkable scientific woman our 

 country has produced. ' ' She was the daughter of a naval 

 officer, Sir William Fairfax; but is best known as Mary 

 Somerville. Her life has been well described as an ' ' unob- 

 trusive record of what can be done by the steady culture 

 of good natural powers and the pursuit of a high standard 

 of excellence in order to win for a woman a distinguished 

 place in the sphere naturally reserved for men, without 

 parting with any of those characteristics of mind, or char- 

 acter, or demeanor which have ever been taken to form the 

 grace and the glory of womanhood." 2 



The surroundings of her youth were not conducive to 

 scientific pursuits. On the contrary, they were entirely 

 unfavorable to her manifest inclinations in that direction. 

 Having scarcely any of the advantages of a school educa- 

 tion, she was obliged to depend almost entirely on her own 

 unaided efforts for the knowledge she actually acquired. 

 She, like Sophie Germain, was essentially a self-made 

 woman ; and her success was achieved only after long labor 

 and suffering and in spite of the persistent opposition of 

 family and friends. 



1 For further information respecting this remarkable woman the 

 reader is referred to CEuvres Philosopliiques de Sophie Germain Sui- 

 vies de Pensees et de Lettres Inedites et Precedees d'une Etude sur 

 sa Vie et ses (Euvres, par. H. Stupy, Paris, 1896. One may also 

 consult Todhunter's History of the Theory of Elasticity and of the 

 Strength of Materials, Vol. I, pp. 147-160, Cambridge, 1886, in which 

 is given a careful resume of Mile. Germain's mathematical memoirs 

 on elastic surfaces. 



2 Saturday Beview, January 10, 1874. 



