Vincenzo Brunacci (3 March 1768 – 16 June 1818) was an Italian

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 ...

born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

.An Italian short biography Vincenzo Brunacci
in ''Edizione Nazionale Mathematica Italiana'' online. He was professor of ''Matematica sublime'' ( infinitesimal calculus) in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

. He transmitted Lagrange's ideas to his pupils, including Ottaviano Fabrizio Mossotti, Antonio Bordoni and

Gabrio Piola Gabrio Piola (15 July 1794 – 9 November 1850) was an Italian mathematician and physicist, Danilo Capecchi and Giuseppe C. Ruta"Piola's contribution to continuum mechanics" ''Archive for History of Exact Sciences'', Vol. 61, No. 4 (July 2007), pp ...

Biography

He studied medicine, astronomy and mathematics at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. In 1788 he earned his

laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremony ...

and the same year he started teaching mathematics at the Naval Institute of Livorno. In 1796, when Napoleon entered Italy, he endorsed the new order. Upon the reinstatement of the Austrian rule, he moved to France between 1799 and 1800. On returning he attained a chair at the

. In 1801 he moved to the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

with the office of professor of infinitesimal calculus and become its dean. Brunacci believed that Lagrange's approach, developed in the "Théorie des fonctions analytiques", was the correct one and that the infinitesimal concept was to be banned from analysis and mechanics. In Brunacci's university teaching infinitesimal calculus differently from Lagrange's principles was even prohibited as a rule. Brunacci passed his idea of analysis on to his students, among which Fabrizio Ottaviano Mossotti, Gabrio Piola and Antonio Bordoni. He cooperated with the public administration, in 1805 he was in the Committee for the Naviglio Pavese (Pavia Canal) project and the following year as inspector of Waters and Roads. In 1809 he joined the Committee for the new measurements and weights system and from 1811 he was inspector general of Public Education for the entire Italian Kingdom. He died in

in 1818.

Writings

* ''Opuscolo analitico'', (1792). * ''Calcolo integrale delle equazioni lineari'', (1798). * ''Corso di matematica sublime'', in four volumes, Firenze, (1804–1807). * ''Elementi di algebra e di geometria'', in two volumes, Firenze, (1809). * ''Trattato dell'ariete idraulico'', (1810). * * Brunacci, Vincenzo – Trattato di navigazione, 1817 – BEIC 12149896.jpg, ''Trattato di navigazione'', 1817

Notes

External links

*
An Italian short biography Vincenzo Brunacci
in ''Edizione Nazionale Mathematica Italiana'' online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunacci, Vincenzo 18th-century Italian mathematicians 19th-century Italian mathematicians University of Pisa alumni University of Pavia alumni 1768 births 1818 deaths