Syamadas Mukhopadhyaya (22 June 1866 – 8 May 1937) was an Indian

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 ...

who introduced the

four-vertex theorem In geometry, the four-vertex theorem states that the curvature along a simple, closed, smooth plane curve has at least four local extrema (specifically, at least two local maxima and at least two local minima). The name of the theorem derives ...

and

Mukhopadhyaya's theorem In geometry, the four-vertex theorem states that the curvature along a simple, closed curve, closed, smooth curve, smooth plane curve has at least four local extremum, local extrema (specifically, at least two local maxima and at least two local ...

plane 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 ...

Biography

Syamadas Mukhopadhyaya was born at Haripal,

Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsurah (' ...

, in

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He graduated from Hooghly College, received his M.A. degree from Presidency College in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, and his Ph.D. degree from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

in 1910. He also took classes from the

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in basic sciences under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. Established on 29 July ...

. Mukhopadhyaya was appointed by Asutosh Mookerjee as professor of mathematics in the

Rajabazar Science College The University College of Science, Technology and Agriculture (formerly known as Rajabazar Science College) are two of five main campuses of the University of Calcutta (CU). The college served as the cradle of Indian sciences, where Raman won t ...

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

Jacques Hadamard Jacques Salomon Hadamard (; 8 December 1865 – 17 October 1963) was a French mathematician who made major contributions in number theory, complex analysis, differential geometry, and partial differential equations. Biography The son of a tea ...

communicated with Mukhopadyaya about the latter's work on the geometry of a plane arc and

Wilhelm Blaschke Wilhelm Johann Eugen Blaschke (13 September 1885 – 17 March 1962) was an Austrian mathematician working in the fields of differential and integral geometry. Education and career Blaschke was the son of mathematician Josef Blaschke, who taugh ...

's book on geometry had a reference to Mukhopadhyaya. He worked at

Bangabasi College Bangabasi College is a Kolkata-based liberal arts, commerce and sciences college. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses of the University of Calcutta. It was founded by Girish Chandra Bose, an educationist, social reformer and agric ...

and then at

Bethune College Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. ...

in Calcutta, where he lectured in

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

, and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In 1932, he was elected president of the

Calcutta Mathematical Society The Calcutta Mathematical Society (CalMathSoc) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and education in India. The Society has its head office located at Kolkata, India. Histor ...

. He served in this capacity until his death from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

in 1937. Mukhopadhyaya went to Europe on a Ghose Travelling Fellowship in 1933 to study methods of education. He gave lectures in Paris University.The Mathematics Student, Volumes 1-4, 1933
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References

* * * "Syamadas Mukhopadhyaya", ''Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society'', Vol. 29 (1937), pages 115-120. * D. DeTurck, H. Gluck, D. Pomerleano, D.S. Vick
The four vertex theorem and its converse
''

Notices of the AMS ''Notices of the American Mathematical Society'' is the membership journal of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), published monthly except for the combined June/July issue. The first volume was published in 1953. Each issue of the magazine s ...

'', 54 (2007), no. 2, 192–207. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mukhopadhyaya, Syamadas Differential geometers 19th-century Indian mathematicians 20th-century Indian mathematicians University of Calcutta alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Scientists from Kolkata 1937 deaths 1866 births People from the Bengal Presidency Mathematicians from British India Bengali mathematicians