Johannes (van Waveren) Hudde (23 April 1628 – 15 April 1704) was a

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chie ...

(mayor) of Amsterdam between 1672 – 1703, a

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 ...

and governor of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

. As a "burgemeester" of Amsterdam he ordered that the city canals should be flushed at high tide and that the polluted water of the town "secreten" should be diverted to pits outside the town instead of into the canals. He also promoted hygiene in and around the town's water supply. "Hudde's stones" were marker stones that were used to mark the summer high water level at several points in the city. They later were the foundation for the " NAP", the now Europe-wide system for measuring water levels.J.P.M Kwaa
Het Normal Amsterdam Peil (NAP)
(Dutch)

Mathematical work

Specilla circularia Johannes Hudde 1656 KB KW GW A108988 pag 0-1

Hudde studied law at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

, but turned to mathematics under the influence of his teacher Frans van Schooten. From 1654 to 1663 he worked under van Schooten. ''

La Géométrie ''La Géométrie'' was published in 1637 as an appendix to ''Discours de la méthode'' ('' Discourse on the Method''), written by René Descartes. In the ''Discourse'', he presents his method for obtaining clarity on any subject. ''La Géométr ...

'' (1637) by

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...

provided an introduction to

analytic geometry In classical mathematics, analytic geometry, also known as coordinate geometry or Cartesian geometry, is the study of geometry using a coordinate system. This contrasts with synthetic geometry. Analytic geometry is used in physics and enginee ...

in French, whereas

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

was still the international language of science. Schooten and his students including Hudde,

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the F ...

and

Hendrik van Heuraet Hendrik van Heuraet (1633, Haarlem - 1660?, Leiden) was a Dutch mathematician also known as Henrici van Heuraet. He is noted as one of the founders of the integral, and author of ''Epistola de Transmutatione Curvarum Linearum in Rectus'' 'On t ...

published a Latin translation of ''La Geometrie'' in 1659. Each of the students added to the work. Hudde's contribution described

Hudde's rules In mathematics, Hudde's rules are two properties of polynomial roots described by Johann Hudde. 1. If ''r'' is a double root of the polynomial equation ::a_0x^n + a_1x^ + \cdots + a_x + a_n = 0 :and if b_0, b_1, \dots, b_, b_n are numbers in ar ...

and made a study of

maxima and minima In mathematical analysis, the maxima and minima (the respective plurals of maximum and minimum) of a function, known collectively as extrema (the plural of extremum), are the largest and smallest value of the function, either within a given r ...

. Hudde corresponded with

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, ...

and

Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists o ...

Johann Bernoulli Johann Bernoulli (also known as Jean or John; – 1 January 1748) was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is known for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and educating Le ...

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, Theology, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosophy, natural philosopher"), widely ...

and

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...

. Newton and Leibniz mention Hudde many times and used some of his ideas in their own work on

infinitesimal calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of ari ...

References

* Karlheinz Haas (1956) "Die mathematischen Arbeiten von Johann Hudde (1628 to 1704) Bürgermeister von Amsterdam",

Centaurus Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. ...

4: 235–84 * J. Hudde (1656
Specilla circularia
(circular Lens, in Dutch)

External links

* *
Tomb of Johannes Hudde at Oude Kerk
from Gravenopinternet {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudde, Johannes 1628 births 1704 deaths 17th-century Dutch mathematicians Mayors of Amsterdam Scientists from Amsterdam Leiden University alumni Administrators of the Dutch East India Company Burials at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam 17th-century Dutch politicians 18th-century Dutch politicians People associated with Baruch Spinoza

Mathematical work

See also

References

External links