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Notes

1 Her Christian name was Marie-Sophie, but since it was so common at that time for French Catholic parents to give the name Marie to their children (male as well as female; witness Legendre), she went by the name Sophie with family and friends.

2 To be sure, Fermat’s Last Theorem stood as one of the most important open problems in mathematics for nearly 200 more years, famously falling at last to the work of Andrew Wiles, Richard Taylor, and others in the 1990s [1]. Most of modern algebraic number theory was developed in the hope of making progress on resolving this conjecture, involving work by legions of the most talented mathematicians in history. It ultimately required rather sophisticated techniques to settle its truth.

3 This work “on the theory of vibrating surfaces” won her a prize from the French Academy of Sciences in 1816.

4 She is alluding here to Fermat himself.

5 For more on this pedagogical philosophy, see [9] and [10]. Pengelley is a coauthor of both articles.

6 The first of these grant programs, Teaching Discrete Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources (2003–2006; NSF grant DUE-0231113) [11], received funding to support the creation and dissemination of 16 classroom projects based on primary sources for students of mathematics and computer science. The second phase, Learning Discrete Mathematics and Computer Science via Primary Historical Sources (2008–2012; NSF grants DUE-0717752 and DUE-071539) [12], extended this work by creating 20 additional primary source projects.

7 The third of these initiatives was titled TRansforming Instruction in Undergraduate Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources (TRIUMPHS), and received NSF funding (2015-2023; NSF grants DUE-TUES Nos. 1523494, 1523561, 1523747, 1523753, 1523898, 1524065, and 1524098) [13]; this reviewer was one of its co-Principal Investigators.