BY MARCIA HAWKINS - The Life of

DAY
Evariste Galois
Early Life
Lived from October 25, 1811 to May 31, 1832
French Mathematician born in Bourg-la-Reine
Homeschooled until 1823 when he went to
college
College Royal de Louis-le-Grand
Began to study algebra and geometry
 ØHis study of Algebra led him to take on the question of the
solution of algebraic equations
Leading up to ØMathematicians once used explicit formulas, involving only
His Discovery rational operations and extractions of roots
Ø Could solve up to degree four, defeated by equations of degree
five or higher
Discovery of Galois’s Theory
Galois searched for necessary and sufficient conditions under which an algebraic equation of
any degree can be solved by radicals
Method: Analyze the admissible permutations of the roots of the equation
Discovery: An equation could be solved in radicals if one can find a series of subgroups of its
Galois group, each on normal in its successor with abelian quotient, or its Galois group is
solvable
The group can be broken down into simple “prime-order” constituents that always have an easily
understood structure
Galois originally applied this to the theory of equations, later other Mathematicians adapted and
applied it to other fields
Other Contributions
Founded Abstract algebra and group theory
Fundamental to computer science, physics, coding theory, and
cryptography
Remarkable because they captured in scribbled note shortly before
his death

Today we use “Galois Connection” to mean a way of solving

challenging math problems by translating them into different
mathematical domains, creating a new solution paradigm by
making the original problem amenable to a number of math
techniques
Used to approach challenging software problems
 Published a minor paper while still at Louis-le-Grand

Tragedy and Disappointments

• His memoir on solvability of algebraic equations submitted in 1829

was lost

Later in Life • Failed two attempts to be admitted to the top French math school
• In 1829 his father committed suicide
• Enrolled at a lesser prestigious school he rewrote the lost paper,
again the manuscript was lost
• After the July Revolution of 1830, he was arrested twice for his
republican activities
• Finally submitted memoir (lost twice) and it came back with a
negative report
• Death by provoked duel
Works Cited
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Evariste-Galois
https://www.storyofmathematics.com/19th_galois.html
https://galois.com/team/evariste-galois/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89variste_Galois