Jean Prestet
Jean Prestet (1648–1690) was a French Oratorian priest and mathematician who contributed to the fields of combinatorics and number theory. Prestet grew up poor. As a teenager, he worked as a servant of the Oratory of Jesus in Paris. He was promoted to scribe for Nicolas Malebranche, who taught him mathematics. Under the guidance of Malebranche, Prestet began work in 1670 on the textbook ''Elémens des Mathématiques'' inspired by the style of fellow Oratorian Antoine Arnauld. Unusually for the time, the textbook focused exclusively on algebra but did not cover geometry at all. Prestet believed that algebra was the most fundamental field of mathematics, and geometry merely applied algebra. Gert Schubring writes that " e self-confidence of Prestet in claiming superiority for the 'moderns' over the 'ancients' … proved to be a bold and modernizing approach, disseminating Cartesian conceptions and preparing the way for rationalism in France." The book contained a proof of Descart ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon. Geography Chalon-sur-Saône lies in the south of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and in the east of France, approximately north of Mâcon. It is located on the Saône river, and was once a busy port, acting as a distribution point for local wines which were sent up and down the Saône river and the Canal du Centre, opened in 1792. History Ancient times Though the site (ancient ''Cabillonum'') was a capital of the Aedui and objects of La Tène culture have been retrieved from the bed of the river here, the first mention of ''Cavillonum'' is found in Commentarii de Bello Gallico (VII, chs. 42 and 90). The Roman city already served as a river port and hub of road communica ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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. Mathematics was central to his method of inquiry, and he connected the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra into analytic geometry. Descartes spent much of his working life in the Dutch Republic, initially serving the Dutch States Army, later becoming a central intellectual of the Dutch Golden Age. Although he served a Protestant state and was later counted as a deist by critics, Descartes considered himself a devout Catholic. Many elements of Descartes' philosophy have precedents in late Aristotelianism, the revived Stoicism of the 16th century, or in earlier philosophers like Augustine. In his natural philosophy, he differed from the schools on two major points: first, he rejected the splitting of corporeal substance i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1690 Deaths
Year 169 ( CLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Apollinaris (or, less frequently, year 922 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 169 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Marcomannic Wars: Germanic tribes invade the frontiers of the Roman Empire, specifically the provinces of Raetia and Moesia. * Northern African Moors invade what is now Spain. * Marcus Aurelius becomes sole Roman Emperor upon the death of Lucius Verus. * Marcus Aurelius forces his daughter Lucilla into marriage with Claudius Pompeianus. * Galen moves back to Rome for good. China * Confucian scholars who had denounced the court eunuchs are arrested, killed or banished from the capital of Luoyang and official life du ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1648 Births
1648 has been suggested as possibly the last year in which the overall human population declined, coming towards the end of a broader period of global instability which included the collapse of the Ming dynasty and the Thirty Years' War, the latter of which ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia. Events January–March * January 15 – Manchu invaders of China's Fujian province capture Spanish Dominican priest Francisco Fernández de Capillas, torture him and then behead him. Capillas will be canonized more than 350 years later in 2000 in the Roman Catholic Church as one of the Martyr Saints of China. * January 15 – Alexis, Tsar of Russia, marries Maria Miloslavskaya, who later gives birth to two future tsars (Feodor III and Ivan V) as well as Princess Sophia Alekseyevna, the regent for Peter I. * January 17 – By a vote of 141 to 91, England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charle ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fundamental Theorem Of Arithmetic
In mathematics, the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, also called the unique factorization theorem and prime factorization theorem, states that every integer greater than 1 can be represented uniquely as a product of prime numbers, up to the order of the factors. For example, : 1200 = 2^4 \cdot 3^1 \cdot 5^2 = (2 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 2) \cdot 3 \cdot (5 \cdot 5) = 5 \cdot 2 \cdot 5 \cdot 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 = \ldots The theorem says two things about this example: first, that 1200 be represented as a product of primes, and second, that no matter how this is done, there will always be exactly four 2s, one 3, two 5s, and no other primes in the product. The requirement that the factors be prime is necessary: factorizations containing composite numbers may not be unique (for example, 12 = 2 \cdot 6 = 3 \cdot 4). This theorem is one of the main reasons why 1 is not considered a prime number: if 1 were prime, then factorization into primes would not be unique; for exampl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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University Of Angers
The University of Angers (french: Université d'Angers; UA) is a public university in western France, with campuses in Angers, Cholet, and Saumur. It forms part of thAngers-Le Mans University Community History The University of Angers was initially established during the 11th century as the ''School of Angers''. It became known as the ''University of Angers'' in 1337 and was the fifth largest university in France at the time. The university existed until 1793 when all universities in France were closed. Nearly 2 centuries later, the university was reestablished in 1971 after a regrouping of several preexisting higher education establishments. It would go on to add additional campuses in Cholet and Saumur in 1987 and 2004, respectively. Today, the University of Angers counts more than 25,000 students across all campuses. Academics The University of Angers offers bachelors, vocational bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees across its 8 faculties and institutes: *Faculty of Tou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abraham De Moivre
Abraham de Moivre FRS (; 26 May 166727 November 1754) was a French mathematician known for de Moivre's formula, a formula that links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory. He moved to England at a young age due to the religious persecution of Huguenots in France which reached a climax in 1685 with the Edict of Fontainebleau. He was a friend of Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley, and James Stirling. Among his fellow Huguenot exiles in England, he was a colleague of the editor and translator Pierre des Maizeaux. De Moivre wrote a book on probability theory, ''The Doctrine of Chances'', said to have been prized by gamblers. De Moivre first discovered Binet's formula, the closed-form expression for Fibonacci numbers linking the ''n''th power of the golden ratio ''φ'' to the ''n''th Fibonacci number. He also was the first to postulate the central limit theorem, a cornerstone of probability theory. Life Early years Abra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bernard Lamy
Bernard Lamy (15 June 1640 – 29 January 1715) was a French Oratorian, mathematician and theologian. Life Lamy was born in Le Mans, France. After studying there, he went to join the Maison d'Institution in Paris, and to Saumur thereafter. In 1658 he entered the congregation of the Oratory. Lamy became professor of classics at Vendôme in 1661, and at Juilly in 1663. He was ordained in 1667. After teaching a few years at Le Mans he was appointed to a chair of philosophy in the University of Angers. Here his teaching was attacked on the ground that it was too exclusively Cartesian, and Rebous the rector obtained in 1675 from the state authorities a decree forbidding him to continue his lectures. He was then sent by his superiors to Grenoble, where, thanks to the protection of Cardinal Le Camus, he again took up his courses of philosophy. In 1686 he returned to Paris, stopping at the seminary of Saint Magloire, and in 1689 he was sent to Rouen, where he spent the remainde ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Society Of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = , founding_location = , type = Order of clerics regular of pontifical right (for men) , headquarters = Generalate:Borgo S. Spirito 4, 00195 Roma-Prati, Italy , coords = , region_served = Worldwide , num_members = 14,839 members (includes 10,721 priests) as of 2020 , leader_title = Motto , leader_name = la, Ad Majorem Dei GloriamEnglish: ''For the Greater Glory of God'' , leader_title2 = Superior General , leader_name2 = Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ , leader_title3 = Patron saints , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = Ministry , leader_name4 = Missionary, educational, literary works , main_organ = La Civiltà Cattolic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Euclid's Lemma
In algebra and number theory, Euclid's lemma is a lemma that captures a fundamental property of prime numbers, namely: For example, if , , , then , and since this is divisible by 19, the lemma implies that one or both of 133 or 143 must be as well. In fact, . If the premise of the lemma does not hold, i.e., is a composite number, its consequent may be either true or false. For example, in the case of , , , composite number 10 divides , but 10 divides neither 4 nor 15. This property is the key in the proof of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. It is used to define prime elements, a generalization of prime numbers to arbitrary commutative rings. Euclid's Lemma shows that in the integers irreducible elements are also prime elements. The proof uses induction so it does not apply to all integral domains. Formulations Euclid's lemma is commonly used in the following equivalent form: Euclid's lemma can be generalized as follows from prime numbers to any integers. This is a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Descartes' Rule Of Signs
In mathematics, Descartes' rule of signs, first described by René Descartes in his work ''La Géométrie'', is a technique for getting information on the number of positive real roots of a polynomial. It asserts that the number of positive roots is at most the number of sign changes in the sequence of polynomial's coefficients (omitting the zero coefficients), and that the difference between these two numbers is always even. This implies, in particular, that if the number of sign changes is zero or one, then there are exactly zero or one positive roots, respectively. By a homographic transformation of the variable, one may use Descartes' rule of signs for getting a similar information on the number of roots in any interval. This is the basic idea of Budan's theorem and Budan–Fourier theorem. By repeating the division of an interval into two intervals, one gets eventually a list of disjoint intervals containing together all real roots of the polynomial, and containing each exac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy'', 1st edition, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976. 2nd edition, 1986. 3rd edition, Routledge, London, 1996. p. 286 More formally, rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive".Bourke, Vernon J., "Rationalism," p. 263 in Runes (1962). In an old John Locke (1690), An Essay on Human Understanding controversy, rationalism was opposed to empiricism, where the rationalists believed that reality has an intrinsically logical structure. Because of this, the rationalists argued that certain truths exist and that the intellect can directly grasp these truths. That is to say, rationalists asserted that certain rational principles exist in logic, mathematics, ethics ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |