Jean-Robert Argand
Jean-Robert Argand (, , ; July 18, 1768 – August 13, 1822) was a Genevan amateur mathematician. In 1806, while managing a bookstore in Paris, he published the idea of geometrical interpretation of complex numbers known as the Argand diagram and is known for the first rigorous proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra. Life Jean-Robert Argand was born in Geneva, then Republic of Geneva, to Jacques Argand and Eve Carnac. His background and education are mostly unknown. Since his knowledge of mathematics was self-taught and he did not belong to any mathematical organizations, he likely pursued mathematics as a hobby rather than a profession. Argand moved to Paris in 1806 with his family and, when managing a bookshop there, privately published his ''Essai sur une manière de représenter les quantités imaginaires dans les constructions géométriques'' (Essay on a method of representing imaginary quantities). In 1813, it was republished in the French journal ''Annales de Mat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Canton of Geneva, Republic and Canton of Geneva, and a centre for international diplomacy. Geneva hosts the highest number of International organization, international organizations in the world, and has been referred to as the world's most compact metropolis and the "Peace Capital". Geneva is a global city, an international financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy hosting the highest number of international organizations in the world, including the headquarters of many agencies of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Red Cross. In the aftermath ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Rigorous Proof
Rigour (British English) or rigor (American English; see spelling differences) describes a condition of stiffness or strictness. These constraints may be environmentally imposed, such as "the rigours of famine"; logically imposed, such as mathematical proofs which must maintain consistent answers; or socially imposed, such as the process of defining ethics and law. Etymology "Rigour" comes to English through old French (13th c., Modern French '' rigueur'') meaning "stiffness", which itself is based on the Latin">Wiktionary:fr:rigueur">rigueur'') meaning "stiffness", which itself is based on the Latin ''rigorem'' (nominative ''rigor'') "numbness, stiffness, hardness, firmness; roughness, rudeness", from the verb ''rigere'' "to be stiff". The noun was frequently used to describe a condition of strictness or stiffness, which arises from a situation or constraint either chosen or experienced passively. For example, the title of the book ''Theologia Moralis Inter Rigorem et Laxi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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18th-century Mathematicians From The Republic Of Geneva
The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to challenge the legitimacy of monarchical and aristocratic power structures. The Industrial Revolution began mid-century, leading to radical changes in human society and the environment. The European colonization of the Americas and other parts of the world intensified and associated mass migrations of people grew in size as part of the Age of Sail. During the century, slave trading expanded across the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, while declining in Russia and China. Western historians have occasionally defined the 18th century otherwise for the purposes of their work. For example, the "short" 18th century may be defined as 1715–1789, denoting the period of time between the death of Louis XIV of France and the start of the French Revolution, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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1822 Deaths
Events January–March * January 1 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus. * January 3 – The famous French explorer, Aimé Bonpland, is imprisoned in Paraguay on charges of espionage. * January 7 – The first freed slaves from the United States history of Liberia, arrive on the west coast of Africa, founding Monrovia on April 25. * January 9 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portugal's John VI of Portugal, King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process. * January 13 – The design of the modern-day flag of Greece is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus, for their Maritime flag, naval flag. * January 14 – Greek War of Independence: Acrocorinth is captured by Theodoros Kolokotronis and Demetrios Ypsilantis. * February 6 – The Chinese Junk (ship), junk ''Tek Sing'' sinks in the South China Sea, drowning more than 1,800 people on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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1768 Births
Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and sent to the other Thirteen Colonies. Refusal to revoke the letter will result in dissolution of the Massachusetts Assembly, and (from October) incur the institution of martial law to prevent civil unrest. * February 24 – With Russian troops occupying the nation, opposition legislators of the national legislature having been deported, the government of Poland signs a treaty virtually turning the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into a protectorate of the Russian Empire. * February 27 – The first Secretary of State for the Colonies is appointed in Britain, the Earl of Hillsborough. * February 29 – Five days after the signing of the treaty, a group of the szlachta, Polish nobles, establishes the Bar Confed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Dictionary Of Scientific Biography
The ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' is a scholarly reference work that was published from 1970 through 1980 by publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, with main editor the science historian Charles Coulston Gillispie, Charles Gillispie, from Princeton University. It consisted of sixteen volumes. It is supplemented by the ''New Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' (2007). Both these publications are included in a later ebook, electronic book, called the ''Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography''. ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' The ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' is a scholarly English-language reference work consisting of biography, biographies of scientists from antiquity to modern times but excluding scientists who were alive when the ''Dictionary'' was first published. It includes scientists who worked in the areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences. The work is notable for being one of the most substantial reference works in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Complex Plane
In mathematics, the complex plane is the plane (geometry), plane formed by the complex numbers, with a Cartesian coordinate system such that the horizontal -axis, called the real axis, is formed by the real numbers, and the vertical -axis, called the imaginary axis, is formed by the imaginary numbers. The complex plane allows for a geometric interpretation of complex numbers. Under addition, they add like vector (geometry), vectors. The multiplication of two complex numbers can be expressed more easily in polar coordinates: the magnitude or ' of the product is the product of the two absolute values, or moduli, and the angle or ' of the product is the sum of the two angles, or arguments. In particular, multiplication by a complex number of modulus 1 acts as a rotation. The complex plane is sometimes called the Argand plane or Gauss plane. Notational conventions Complex numbers In complex analysis, the complex numbers are customarily represented by the symbol , which can be sepa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Complex Number
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the form a + bi, where and are real numbers. Because no real number satisfies the above equation, was called an imaginary number by René Descartes. For the complex number is called the , and is called the . The set of complex numbers is denoted by either of the symbols \mathbb C or . Despite the historical nomenclature, "imaginary" complex numbers have a mathematical existence as firm as that of the real numbers, and they are fundamental tools in the scientific description of the natural world. Complex numbers allow solutions to all polynomial equations, even those that have no solutions in real numbers. More precisely, the fundamental theorem of algebra asserts that every non-constant polynomial equation with real or complex coefficie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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−1 (number)
In mathematics, −1 (negative one or minus one) is the additive inverse of 1, that is, the number that when added to 1 gives the additive identity element, 0. It is the negative integer greater than negative two (−2) and less than 0. In mathematics Algebraic properties Multiplying a number by −1 is equivalent to changing the sign of the number – that is, for any we have . This can be proved using the distributive law and the axiom that 1 is the multiplicative identity: :. Here we have used the fact that any number times 0 equals 0, which follows by cancellation from the equation :. In other words, :, so is the additive inverse of , i.e. , as was to be shown. The square of −1 (that is −1 multiplied by −1) equals 1. As a consequence, a product of two negative numbers is positive. For an algebraic proof of this result, start with the equation :. The first equality follows from the above result, and the second follows from the definition of −1 as addit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Imaginary Unit
The imaginary unit or unit imaginary number () is a mathematical constant that is a solution to the quadratic equation Although there is no real number with this property, can be used to extend the real numbers to what are called complex numbers, using addition and multiplication. A simple example of the use of in a complex number is Imaginary numbers are an important mathematical concept; they extend the real number system \mathbb to the complex number system \mathbb, in which at least one Root of a function, root for every nonconstant polynomial exists (see Algebraic closure and Fundamental theorem of algebra). Here, the term ''imaginary'' is used because there is no real number having a negative square (algebra), square. There are two complex square roots of and , just as there are two complex square roots of every real number other than zero (which has one multiple root, double square root). In contexts in which use of the letter is ambiguous or problematic, the le ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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George Chrystal
George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily known for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Medal from the Royal Society of London that was confirmed shortly after his death. Life He was born in Old Meldrum on 8 March 1851, the son of Margaret (née Burr) and William Chrystal, a wealthy farmer and grain merchant. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the University of Aberdeen. In 1872, he moved to study under James Clerk Maxwell at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He graduated Second Wrangler in 1875, joint with William Burnside, and was elected a fellow of Corpus Christi. He was appointed to the Regius Chair of Mathematics at the University of St Andrews in 1877, and then in 1879 to the Chair in Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. In 1911, he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society for his researches into t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |