GERMAIN, Sophie.

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Considérations générales sur l'état des sciences et des lettres, aux différentes époques de leur culture. First edition of this essay arguing that the sciences and humanities are not separate disciplines, on account of their shared process of classification and systematization. "Her philosophy emphasized the unity of the physical and moral orders of things and anticipated many of the features of the positivism of Auguste Comte, by whom her work was highly regarded" (Gray, p. 53)Germain (1776-1831) drew on her father's extensive library to teach herself mathematics, but as a woman was unable to make a career out of it. Despite this and her lack of materials, Germain did pioneering work on elasticity theory, for which she won won the grand prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences, and which later was the basis for the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Her work on Fermat's Last Theorum also became the basis of work on the problem for the next several centuries.This essay was published posthumously by Germain's nephew and literary executor Armand-Jaques Lherbette (1791-1864).

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