![]() ![]() In this case, it asked one to “perfect in one important point the theory of the movement of a solid body round an immovable point.” The way an object spins depends not just on its size and mass but also the way its mass is distributed. The prize went to work on a particular question. The top was the focus of the work that earned Kovalevskaya the Prix Bordin from the French Academy of Sciences in 1888. Even though it’s called a Kovalevskaya top, you can’t exactly play with one on your table. Why didn’t I know about a toy named after our mathematical foremother?! Well, it turns out it’s hardly a toy. I recently read Michèle Audin’s book Remembering Sofya Kovalevskaya and was surprised to learn about a mathematical object called the Kovalevskaya top (sometimes spelled Kovalevsky or Kowalevski). ![]()
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