Évariste Galois born: October 25, 1811 near Paris died: May 31, 1832 in Paris (aged 20)

Brilliant. Brash. Unlucky. Died at 20. In all the history of science there is no completer example of the triumph of crass stupidity over untamable genius than is afforded by the all too brief life of Evariste Galois. (E.T. Bell)

A Brief Summary To Start with; Évariste Galois was a French mathematician born in Bourg-la-Reine. While still in his teens, he was able to determine a necessary and sufficient condition for a polynomial to be solvable by radicals, thereby solving a long-standing problem. His work laid the foundations for Galois theory, a major branch of abstract algebra, and the subfield of Galois connections. He was the first to use the word "group" (French: groupe) as a technical term in mathematics to represent a group of permutations. A radical Republican during the monarchy of Louis Philippe in France, he died from wounds suffered in a duel under shadowy circumstances at the age of twenty.

Galois’ Early Life Galois was born to Nicolas-Gabriel Galois and Adélaïde-Marie (born Demante). His father was a Republican and was head of Bourg-la-Reine's liberal party, and became mayor of the village after Louis XVIII returned to the throne in 1814. His mother, the daughter of a jurist, was a fluent reader of Latin and classical literature. At the age of 10, Galois was offered a place at the college of Reims, but his mother preferred to keep him at home and teach him at home until In October 1823, he entered the Lycée Louis-le-Grand.

Galois as a Student and a Mathematician He had trouble with the school authorities. The algebra textbook used in the school disgusted him and he ignored it. It lacked, he said, the creator's touch of a mathematician. He was reading the original papers of Joseph Louis Lagrange and Niels Henrik Abel, work intended for professional mathematicians. At 16, Galois took the examinations to enter the prestigious École Polytechnique, and failed. However, Galois found a mathematics teacher, Louis Richard, and really started studying and doing mathematics. His first paper, on continued fractions, was published when he was 17. On July 28, 1829, Galois' father committed suicide after a bitter political dispute with the village priest. A couple of days later, Galois reapplied to the Polytechnique, and again the examination went badly. Finally, during the oral part of the exam, he lost patience with one of the examiners and threw the eraser at him. It was a hit, but Galois could never apply there again. Galois as a Student and a Mathematician

At 19, Galois attended the university and wrote 3 original papers on the theory of algebraic equations. He submitted them to the Academy of Sciences for the competition in mathematics. The Secretary of the Academy took them home to read, but then died before writing a report about them and the papers were never found.

Political Life In 1830 the French masses revolted, and Galois was a staunch supporter. The director of the school locked the students in the school during the fighting and then expelled Galois for a public letter he wrote condemning the director. Galois was jailed for supposedly threatening the King, but was found 'not guilty' by a jury. Finally he was convicted and sentenced to 6 months in jail for "illegally wearing a uniform."

“I have not time.” When he was finally released, his last misadventure began. He experienced his one and only love affair. In this, as in everything else, he was unfortunate. Later on Galois encountered some of his political enemies and a duel, was arranged. Galois knew he had little chance in the duel, so he spent all night writing the mathematics which he didn't want to die with him, often writing "I have not time. I have not time." in the margins. He sent these results as well as the ones the Academy had lost to his friend Auguste Chevalier, and, on May 30, 1832, went out to duel with pistols at 25 paces.

Final Moments and Death Galois was shot in the intestines, and was taken to the hospital. He comforted his brother with "Don't cry, I need all my courage to die at twenty." He died the day after the duel and was buried in an unmarked, common grave. The true motives behind this duel that ended his life will most likely remain forever obscure. There has been a lot of speculation, much of it spurious, as to the reasons behind it. What is known is that five days before his death he wrote a letter to Chevalier which clearly alludes to a broken love affair.

After His Death; Twenty four years after Galois' death, Joseph Liouville edited some of Galois' manuscripts and published them with a glowing commentary. "I experienced an intense pleasure at the moment when, having filled in some slight gaps, I saw the complete correctness of the method by which Galois proves, in particular, this beautiful theorem: In order that an irreducible equation of prime degree be solvable by radicals it is necessary and sufficient that all its roots be rational functions of any two of them." Galois' complete works fill only 60 pages, but he will be remembered.

Thank You For Listening Selin KAVUZLU