Remembering Sofya Kovalevskaya

Sofia Kovalevskaya was a brilliant and determined young Russian woman of the 19th century who wanted to become a mathematician and who succeeded, in often difficult circumstances, in becoming arguably the first woman to have a professional university career in the way we understand it today. This memoir, written by a mathematician who specialises in symplectic geometry and integrable systems, is a personal exploration of the life, the writings and the mathematical achievements of a remarkable woman. It emphasises the originality of Kovalevskaya's work and assesses her legacy and reputation as a mathematician and scientist. Her ideas are explained in a way that is accessible to a general audience, with diagrams, marginal notes and commentary to help explain the mathematical concepts and provide context.This fascinating book, which also examines Kovalevskaya's love of literature, will be of interest to historians looking for a treatment of the mathematics, and those doing feminist or gender studies.

List of contents

Sofya's chronology.- Sofya's names.- Stories.- The thesis of Sofya, the Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem.- The Solid.- A letter to Mittag-Leffler.- Stockholm.- A letter to Vollmar.- The Bordin prize and Sofya's reputation.- The women of Men of mathematics .- I remember Sofya, by George, Gösta, Julia and all the rest.- I too remember Sofya.- Bibliography.

About the author

Michèle Audin; Professor of Mathematics at IRMA, Université de Strasbourg et CNRS, France.

Summary

Sofia Kovalevskaya was a brilliant and determined young Russian woman of the 19th century who wanted to become a mathematician and who succeeded, in often difficult circumstances, in becoming arguably the first woman to have a professional university career in the way we understand it today. This memoir, written by a mathematician who specialises in symplectic geometry and integrable systems, is a personal exploration of the life, the writings and the mathematical achievements of a remarkable woman. It emphasises the originality of Kovalevskaya’s work and assesses her legacy and reputation as a mathematician and scientist. Her ideas are explained in a way that is accessible to a general audience, with diagrams, marginal notes and commentary to help explain the mathematical concepts and provide context.

This fascinating book, which also examines Kovalevskaya’s love of literature, will be of interest to historians looking for a treatment of the mathematics, and those doing feminist or gender studies.

Additional text

From the book reviews:
“For those who have already read one or two of the numerous biographies, Audin’s portrayal can serve as a valuable addition and a stimulus to rethink opinions already formed. Moreover, for scholars conducting research on Kovalevskaya, the multifaceted potpourri presented in this book will raise a lot of interesting questions and perspectives from which to approach their subject in a different way.” (Eva Kaufholz-Soldat, Historia Mathematica, Vol. 40 (4), 2013)
“The book under review is devoted to Sofia Kovalevskaya. She was the first woman with a university professional activity. This book gives a particular vision of her. … The book provides a picture of Sofia Kovalevskaya that stresses the unity of different aspects of her personality. It has been published in a very nice way, it contains a lot of illustrations and photos. It will be an interesting source of information about Kovalevskaya, even more interesting because it contains the author’s personal view of her.” (Roman Murawski, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1234, 2012)

Report

From the book reviews:
"For those who have already read one or two of the numerous biographies, Audin's portrayal can serve as a valuable addition and a stimulus to rethink opinions already formed. Moreover, for scholars conducting research on Kovalevskaya, the multifaceted potpourri presented in this book will raise a lot of interesting questions and perspectives from which to approach their subject in a different way." (Eva Kaufholz-Soldat, Historia Mathematica, Vol. 40 (4), 2013)
"The book under review is devoted to Sofia Kovalevskaya. She was the first woman with a university professional activity. This book gives a particular vision of her. ... The book provides a picture of Sofia Kovalevskaya that stresses the unity of different aspects of her personality. It has been published in a very nice way, it contains a lot of illustrations and photos. It will be an interesting source of information about Kovalevskaya, even more interesting because it contains the author's personal view of her." (Roman Murawski, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1234, 2012)

Product details

• Authors: Michèle Audin
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Original title: Souvenirs sur Sofia Kovalevskaya
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2012
• EAN: 9780857299284
• ISBN: 978-0-85729-928-4
• No. of pages: 284
• Dimensions: 190 mm x 262 mm x 17 mm
• Weight: 708 g
• Illustrations: IX, 284 p.
• Subject: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Mathematics > General, dictionaries