Jacques Charles François Sturm (29 September 1803 – 15 December 1855) was a French

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

Life and work

Sturm was born in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

(then part of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) in 1803. The family of his father, Jean-Henri Sturm, had emigrated from

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

around 1760—about 50 years before Charles-François's birth. His mother's name was Jeanne-Louise-Henriette Gremay. In 1818, he started to follow the lectures of the academy of Geneva. In 1819, the death of his father forced Sturm to give lessons to children of the rich in order to support his own family. In 1823, he became tutor to the son of Madame de Staël. At the end of 1823, Sturm stayed in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

for a short time following the family of his student. He resolved, with his school-fellow Jean-Daniel Colladon, to try his fortune in Paris, and obtained employment on the ''Bulletin universel''. In 1829, he discovered the

theorem In mathematics, a theorem is a statement that has been proved, or can be proved. The ''proof'' of a theorem is a logical argument that uses the inference rules of a deductive system to establish that the theorem is a logical consequence of t ...

that bears his name, and concerns real-root isolation, that is the determination of the number and the localization of the real

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

of a

polynomial In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression consisting of indeterminates (also called variables) and coefficients, that involves only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and positive-integer powers of variables. An exampl ...

. Sturm benefited from the 1830 revolution, as his Protestant faith ceased to be an obstacle to employment in public high schools. At the end of 1830, he was thus appointed as a professor of Mathématiques Spéciales at the

collège Rollin In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

. He was chosen a member of the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...

in 1836, filling the seat of

André-Marie Ampère André-Marie Ampère (, ; ; 20 January 177510 June 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as "electrodynamics". He is also the inventor of nu ...

. Sturm became ''répétiteur'' in 1838, and in 1840 professor in the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. The same year, after the death of Poisson, Sturm was appointed as

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objec ...

professor of the . His works, ''Cours d'analyse de l'école polytechnique'' (1857–1863) and ''Cours de mécanique de l'école polytechnique'' (1861), were published after his death in Paris, and were regularly republished. He was the co-

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the

Sturm–Liouville theory In mathematics and its applications, classical Sturm–Liouville theory is the theory of ''real'' second-order ''linear'' ordinary differential equations of the form: for given coefficient functions , , and , an unknown function ''y = y''(''x'') ...

with

Joseph Liouville Joseph Liouville (; ; 24 March 1809 – 8 September 1882) was a French mathematician and engineer. Life and work He was born in Saint-Omer in France on 24 March 1809. His parents were Claude-Joseph Liouville (an army officer) and Thérèse ...

. In 1826, with his colleague Jean-Daniel Colladon, Sturm helped make the first experimental determination of the

speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as we ...

in water. In 1851 his health began to fail. He was able to return to teaching for a while during his long illness, but in 1855 he died. The asteroid 31043 Sturm is named for him. Sturm's name is one of the 72 names engraved at the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed ...

Distinctions

* Grand prix de Mathématiques (4 December 1834) * Member of the academy of Berlin (1835) * Member of the academy of Saint-Petersburg (1836) * Officier de la

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(1837) *

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...

of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

(1840) * Member of the Royal Society of London (1840)

Selected writing

Sturm, Charles – Cours de mécanique de l'École polytechnique, 1871 – BEIC 12223960

* *
Cours d'analyse de l'Ecole polytechnique. Tome premier
(Gauthier-Villars, 1877)
Cours d'analyse de l'Ecole polytechnique. Tome second
(Gauthier-Villars, 1877)
Cours de mécanique de l'Ecole polytechnique
(Gauthier-Villars, 1883)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Jacques Charles Francois 1803 births 1855 deaths Members of the French Academy of Sciences Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Copley Medal 19th-century French mathematicians Scientists from Geneva

Life and work

Distinctions

Selected writing

See also

References

External links