Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde (28 February 1735 – 1 January 1796) was a French mathematician, musician, and chemist who worked with Bézout and Lavoisier; his name is now principally associated with determinant theory in mathematics. He was born in Paris, and died there.
Vandermonde was a violinist, and became engaged with mathematics only around 1770. In Mémoire sur la résolution des équations (1771) he reported on symmetric functions and solution of cyclotomic polynomials; this paper anticipated later Galois theory (see also abstract algebra for the role of Vandermonde in the genesis of group theory). In Remarques sur des problèmes de situation (1771) he studied knight's tours, and presaged the development of knot theory by explicitly noting the importance of topological features when discussing the properties of knots:
"Whatever the twists and turns of a system of threads in space, one can always obtain an expression for the calculation of its dimensions, but this expression will be of little use in practice. The craftsman who fashions a braid, a net, or some knots will be concerned, not with questions of measurement, but with those of position: what he sees there is the manner in which the theads are interlaced"
The same year he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences. Mémoire sur des irrationnelles de différents ordres avec une application au cercle (1772) was on combinatorics, and Mémoire sur l'élimination (1772) on the foundations of determinant theory. These papers were presented to the Académie des Sciences, and constitute all his published mathematical work. The Vandermonde determinant does not make an explicit appearance.
^Vandermonde : secret society of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.
Further readingedit
Gilbert Faccarello, Du Conservatoire à l'Ecole Normale, Les cahiers d'histoire du CNAM, 2-3, 17–57, CNAM, Paris, 1993. [1] 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Jacqueline Hecht, Un exemple de multidisciplinarité : Alexandre Vandermonde (1735-1796), Population, 4, 641–676, INED, Paris, 1971.[2]
alexandre, théophile, vandermonde, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, june, 2014, learn, when, remove, this, temp. This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations June 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Alexandre Theophile Vandermonde 28 February 1735 1 January 1796 was a French mathematician musician and chemist who worked with Bezout and Lavoisier his name is now principally associated with determinant theory in mathematics He was born in Paris and died there Contents 1 Biography 2 Honors 3 See also 4 Notes 5 Further reading 6 External linksBiography editVandermonde was a violinist and became engaged with mathematics only around 1770 In Memoire sur la resolution des equations 1771 he reported on symmetric functions and solution of cyclotomic polynomials this paper anticipated later Galois theory see also abstract algebra for the role of Vandermonde in the genesis of group theory In Remarques sur des problemes de situation 1771 he studied knight s tours and presaged the development of knot theory by explicitly noting the importance of topological features when discussing the properties of knots Whatever the twists and turns of a system of threads in space one can always obtain an expression for the calculation of its dimensions but this expression will be of little use in practice The craftsman who fashions a braid a net or some knots will be concerned not with questions of measurement but with those of position what he sees there is the manner in which the theads are interlaced The same year he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences Memoire sur des irrationnelles de differents ordres avec une application au cercle 1772 was on combinatorics and Memoire sur l elimination 1772 on the foundations of determinant theory These papers were presented to the Academie des Sciences and constitute all his published mathematical work The Vandermonde determinant does not make an explicit appearance He was professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure member of the Conservatoire national des arts et metiers and examiner at the Ecole polytechnique Honors editA special class of matrices the Vandermonde matrices are named after him as is an elementary fact of combinatorics Vandermonde s identity Vandermonde is the secret society of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers 1 See also editKnight s Tour Knot theory Vandermonde s identity Vandermonde polynomial Vandermonde matrixNotes edit Vandermonde secret society of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers Further reading editGilbert Faccarello Du Conservatoire a l Ecole Normale Les cahiers d histoire du CNAM 2 3 17 57 CNAM Paris 1993 1 Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Jacqueline Hecht Un exemple de multidisciplinarite Alexandre Vandermonde 1735 1796 Population 4 641 676 INED Paris 1971 2 External links editO Connor John J Robertson Edmund F Alexandre Theophile Vandermonde MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive University of St Andrews Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alexandre Theophile Vandermonde amp oldid 1189774711, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
