A mathematical tragedy

Almost two centuries ago, Sophie Germain was the first woman known to have discovered significant math theorems. She wanted to prove that Fermat's theorem was correct but her theorem was almost lost to history. Fermat told his theory about 350 years before mathematicians finally came up with a proof for it that it was right.(thats...a loonnng time) In 1995, Andrew Wiles from Princeton University found out the problem...In Germain's day, mathematicians working on that specific problem did one problem one by one. Germain's theory would have proven it in one shot. After 80 years, her work on the theory was so totally unknown, people doing math reproved her results.
Sophie Germain (1776–1831) was the first woman known to have discovered significant mathematical theorems.

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080301/mathtrek.asp