A 20-Year-Old Solved a 350-Year-Old Math Problem in One Night, Then Died in a Duel
In a single night he laid the foundations of group theory, the mathematics of symmetry, and by sunrise he was gone after a duel reportedly over a woman.
BreatheLess · You're 25-35 years old? You're running out of time!Evariste Galois spent one night working through a mathematical problem that had stood for 350 years. The next morning, he fought a duel.
In those hours he wrote down the foundations of group theory, the mathematics of symmetry and structure inside equations. A problem that had resisted solution for more than three centuries was solved in one night, and he died the next morning in the duel.
He had made violent threats against France's ruler on two occasions and enlisted with an armed revolutionary group that aimed to bring down the government.
The historical account of his life describes the duel as a fight over a woman. Galois did not survive it. He was 20 years old.
Questions people ask
What is group theory?
Group theory is the mathematics of symmetry and structure. It studies how objects can be shifted, flipped, or combined while keeping their underlying pattern, and physicists and chemists use it to describe things like particle behavior and crystal patterns.
What was the 350-year-old problem he worked on?
It concerned general methods for solving polynomial equations, especially equations of the fifth degree and higher. Mathematicians had sought a general formula using roots since the 1500s, and Galois helped show why no such formula exists.
Why did he fight the duel?
The surviving story describes a romantic dispute over a woman. Historians still debate what exactly happened, and the identity of the woman and the circumstances of the challenge remain uncertain.