Did you copy or study real women mathematicians or scientists (besides Sofya) for your characters?
Yes, I studied other women scientists. I also studied men scientists of the time. Sofya associated with women who were or were to become prominent in the sciences. I did not come across any other women who pursued mathematics with Sofya's intensity. Although at one point Sofya felt that another Russian woman might be a rival for the honor of first woman Ph.D. in mathematics.
Julia Lermontova became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. Julia and Sofya shared an apartment while studying in Heidelberg and again in Berlin where they both did graduate work. Julia knew Mendeleev (creator of the periodic table of elements that everyone studies in high school chemistry). After receiving her degree, Julia worked with leading Russian chemists.
Sofya was a friend of Maria Bokova-Sechenova who became one of the first women physicians in
Sofya was also in a circle of literary notables. So I needed to do research into their lives and work. When Sofya was 16 years old she met the great Russian novelist F. Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov). Sofya and Dostoevsky remained friends until his death in 1881. While in
When Sofya moved to
Sofya met Anton Chekhov. Chekhov was a friend of her fiancé, Maxim Kovalevsky.
In Beyond the Limit, I attempted to present scientists and authors as true to their real life personalities as possible.
Is Sofya Kovalevskaya a real person?
Sofya is a very real person. She was born in 1850 in Moscow and died in 1891 in Stockholm. Beyond the Limit accurately relates events from the period of Sofya's life where she is struggling to obtain an education. Beyond the Limit covers roughly the years of Sofya's life from 1866 to 1874. Future works will cover Sofya's search for a career and her success in research.
What was it about her life that spoke to you as a person or writer?
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