At the age of thirteen, Sophie read an account of the death of Archimedes at the hands of a Roman soldier. She was moved by this story and decided that she too must become a mathematician. Sophie read Newton and Euler at night using candles she had hidden in her shoes and wrapped in blankets as her parents slept - they had taken away her fire, her light and her clothes in an attempt to force her away from her books. Such was her passion that her parents finally conceded.

She is remembered for her work on Prime Numbers.