Editing Sophie Germain (section)

===École Polytechnique===
[[Image:Porton antigua sede École Polytechnique Sainte Geneviève.JPG|thumb|right|Entrance to the historic building of the École Polytechnique]]
In 1794, when Germain was 18, the [[École Polytechnique]] opened.{{sfn|Moncrief|2002|p=103}} As a woman, Germain was barred from attending, but the new system of education made the "lecture notes available to all who asked".{{sfn|Gray|1978|p=48}} The new method also required the students to "submit written observations".{{sfn|Gray|2005|p=69}} Germain obtained the lecture notes and began sending her work to [[Joseph Louis Lagrange]], a faculty member. She used the name of a former student Monsieur Antoine-Auguste Le Blanc,{{sfn|Gray|1978|p=48}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/sophie-germain.html |first=Simon |last=Singh |year=1997 |publisher=WGBH Educational Foundation |title=Math's Hidden Woman |access-date=20 July 2014}}</ref> "fearing", as she later explained to Gauss, "the ridicule attached to a female scientist".{{sfn|Mackinnon|1990|p=348}}  When Lagrange saw the intelligence of M. Le Blanc, he requested a meeting, and thus Sophie was forced to disclose her true identity. Fortunately, Lagrange did not mind that Germain was a woman,{{sfn|Gray|1978|p=48}} and he became her mentor.{{sfn|Moncrief|2002|p=103}}