Étienne Bobillier (17 April 1798 – 22 March 1840) 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He was born in

Lons-le-Saunier Lons-le-Saunier () is a commune and capital of the Jura Department, eastern France. Geography The town is in the heart of the Revermont region, at the foot of the first plateau of the Jura massif. The Jura escarpment extends to the east a ...

, France. At the age of 19, he was accepted into the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

and studied there for a year. However, due to a shortage of money, in 1818 he became an instructor in mathematics at the École des Arts et Métiers in Châlons-sur-Marne. In 1829, he was sent to

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

to be director of studies. The following year he served in the National Guard during the 1830 revolution. In 1832 he returned to Châlons after his post was abolished, and was promoted to professor. In 1836 he began suffering from health problems, but continued teaching; declining to take a leave to recuperate. As a result, he died in Châlons at the relatively early age of 41. He is noted for his work on geometry, particularly the algebraic treatment of geometric surfaces and the polar of curves. He also worked on statics and the

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary ( , ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or wire rope, cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, ...

. The crater Bobillier on the Moon is named after him.

Works

''Cours de géométrie''
1849
''Principes d'algèbre''
1865

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bobillier, Etienne 1798 births 1840 deaths People from Lons-le-Saunier École Polytechnique alumni 19th-century French mathematicians