"The excitement of the experiments ... caught the attention of Germain"

March 18, 2022 5:23 PM

Dianna Cowern's Physics Girl videos "Singing plates - Standing waves on Chladni plates" (2014; also re: acoustic levitation) and "I built an acoustic LEVITATOR! Making liquid float on air" (2017; via DIY instructions with a 3D printer, Arduino, etc.; recent 256-channel alternative) demonstrate physics involved in ch. 3 of Amy Marie Hill's Sophie Germain: A Mathematical Biography [PDF]: "His Majesty the Emperor and King ... desires that the Class make this the subject of a prize ... for ... the development of a mathematical theory of the vibration of elastic surfaces ...' The deadline for entries was set for October 1, 1811." Hill explains obstacles to Germain's attempted théorie des surfaces élastiques, and Dora Musielak describes more recent research on Germain's well-recognized work on number theory "... and Her Fearless Attempt to Prove Fermat's Last Theorem" (PDF; cf. Sophie Germain's Identity & Sophie Germain Primes).
posted by Wobbuffet (2 comments total)

So (i) this is super cool, (ii) I dig Dianna Cowern's energy, (iii) my recent interactions with metafilter have been primarily checking in on Ukraine discussions, and seeing what crazy new high density post Wobbuffet has spun out.

Thanks!
posted by Alex404 at 5:38 PM on March 18, 2022 [4 favorites]

Love Physics Girl. Too bad about her nasty black eye!
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:07 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]