Enrico Betti Glaoui (21 October 1823 – 11 August 1892) 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
, now remembered mostly for his 1871 paper on
topology that led to the later naming after him of the
Betti numbers. He worked also on the
theory of equations, giving early expositions of
Galois theory. He also discovered
Betti's theorem, a result in the
theory of elasticity.
Biography
Betti was born in
Pistoia,
Tuscany. He graduated from the
University of Pisa in 1846 under (1792–1857).
In
Pisa, he was also a student of
Ottaviano-Fabrizio Mossotti and
Carlo Matteucci. After a time teaching, he held an appointment there from 1857. In 1858 he toured Europe with
Francesco Brioschi and
Felice Casorati, meeting
Bernhard Riemann
Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (; ; 17September 182620July 1866) was a German mathematician who made profound contributions to analysis, number theory, and differential geometry. In the field of real analysis, he is mostly known for the f ...
. Later he worked in the area of
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...
opened up by
Riemann's work. He was also closely involved in academic politics, and the politics of the new Italian state.
Works
* E. Betti, ''Sopra gli spazi di un numero qualunque di dimensioni'', Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. 2/4 (1871), 140–158
(Betti's most well known paper).
*
Opere matematiche di Enrico Betti, pubblicate per cura della R. Accademia de' lincei (2vols.)(U. Hoepli, Milano, 1903–1913)
See also
*
Betti cohomology
*
Betti group
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
An Italian short biography of Enrico Bettiin ''Edizione Nazionale Mathematica Italiana'' online.
*
1823 births
1892 deaths
People from Pistoia
19th-century Italian mathematicians
Topologists
University of Pisa alumni
Academic staff of the University of Pisa
Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Scientists from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
{{Italy-mathematician-stub