Nicolas Fuss (29 January 1755 – 4 January 1826), also known as Nikolai Fuss, was a Swiss

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 ...

, living most of his life in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Biography

Fuss was born in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Switzerland. He moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to serve as a mathematical assistant to

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...

from 1773–1783, and remained there until his death. He contributed to

spherical trigonometry Spherical trigonometry is the branch of spherical geometry that deals with the metrical relationships between the edge (geometry), sides and angles of spherical triangles, traditionally expressed using trigonometric functions. On the sphere, ge ...

, differential equations, the optics of

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

s and

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

differential geometry Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of Calculus, single variable calculus, vector calculus, lin ...

, and

actuarial science Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematics, mathematical and statistics, statistical methods to Risk assessment, assess risk in insurance, pension, finance, investment and other industries and professions. Actuary, Actuaries a ...

. He also contributed to

Euclidean geometry Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematics, Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry, ''Euclid's Elements, Elements''. Euclid's approach consists in assuming a small set ...

, including the problem of Apollonius. In 1797, he was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. From 1800–1826, Fuss served as the permanent secretary to the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1812. He died in Saint Petersburg.

Family

Nicolas Fuss was married to Albertine Benedikte Philippine Luise Euler (1766–1822). Albertine Euler was the daughter of Leonhard Euler's eldest son Johann Albrecht Euler (1734-1800) and his wife Anna Sophie Charlotte Hagemeister. Pauline Fuss, a daughter of Nicolas and Albertine, married Russian

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Genrikh Struve. Nicolas's son Paul Heinrich Fuss (1798–1855) edited the first attempt at a collected works of

Euler Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...

. Paul Heinrich was a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg from 1823 and its secretary from 1826. Nicolas's son Georg Albert (1806–1854), was from 1839 an astronomer in

Pulkovo Pulkovo may refer to: *Pulkovo Heights marking the southern limit of Saint Petersburg, Russia *Pulkovo Airport serving Saint Petersburg, Russia * Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise, a former (until 2006) state airline based in Saint Petersburg, Russia *Pu ...

and then from 1848 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and also published on magnetism.

References

Sources

* , 2006 *

External links

MacTutor History of Mathematics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuss, Nicolas 1755 births 1826 deaths 18th-century Swiss mathematicians Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Swiss emigrants to the Russian Empire 19th-century Swiss mathematicians 18th-century mathematicians from the Russian Empire 19th-century mathematicians from the Russian Empire Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala

Biography

Family

See also

References

Sources

External links