Augustin-Louis Cauchy
Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy FRS FRSE (UK: /kˈoʊʃi/ KOH-shee, /kˈaʊʃi / KOW-shee, US: /koʊʃˈiː / koh-SHEE, France: / ˈoɡystɛ̃ˈ lwˈi kˈoʃˈi /, OH-gus-TEY loo-EE KOH-SHEE; 21 August 1789 – 23 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist. He was one of the first to rigorously state and prove the key theorems of calculus (thereby creating real analysis), pioneered the field complex analysis, and the study of permutation groups in abstract algebra. Cauchy also contributed to a number of topics in mathematical physics, notably continuum mechanics.
Augustin-Louis Cauchy | |
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Cauchy around 1840. Lithography by Zéphirin Belliard after a painting by Jean Roller. | |
| Born | 21 August 1789 Paris, France |
| Died | 23 May 1857 (aged 67) Sceaux, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées |
| Known for | Mechanical engineering Mathematical analysis Gradient descent Implicit function theorem Intermediate value theorem Spectral theorem Limit (mathematics) See full list |
| Spouse | Aloise de Bure |
| Children | Marie Françoise Alicia, Marie Mathilde |
| Awards | Grand Prize of L'Académie Royale des Sciences |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics, physics |
| Institutions | École Centrale du Panthéon École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées École Polytechnique |
| Doctoral students | Francesco Faà di Bruno Viktor Bunyakovsky |
A profound mathematician, Cauchy had a great influence over his contemporaries and successors; Hans Freudenthal stated:
- "More concepts and theorems have been named for Cauchy than for any other mathematician (in elasticity alone there are sixteen concepts and theorems named for Cauchy)."
Cauchy was a prolific worker; he wrote approximately eight hundred research articles and five complete textbooks on a variety of topics in the fields of mathematics and mathematical physics.