Bertrand

Joseph Louis Francois Bertrand

Born: 11 March 1822 in Paris, France
Died: 5 April 1900 in Paris, France

Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page
Joseph Bertrand was a Paris professor who, in 1845, conjectured that there is at lest one prime between n and 2n-2 for every n>3. This was proved by Chebyshev in 1850. Bertrand also worked on differential geometry and probability theory. His book Calcul des probabilitiés contains a paradox on continuous probabilities now known as Bertrand's paradox.

References elsewhere in this archive:

Tell me about Bertrand's part in investigating prime numbers and his work on mathematical games and recreations

Tell me about Bertrand's work on orbits and gravitation

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Addresses to honour Bertrand, Comptes rendus de l'Académie 130 (1900), 961-978.
  3. G Darboux, Éloge historique de J L F Bertrand, Éloges académique et discours (Paris, 1912), 1-60.
  4. M Zerner, Le règne de Joseph Bertrand (1874-1900), in H Gispert, La France Mathématique. La Societé Mathematique de France (1870-1914) (Paris- Berlin, 1991). 
Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page

History Topics Index              Famous curves index

Chronologies                           Birthplace Map

Mathematicians of the day  Anniversaries for the year

Search Form   Simple Search Form   Search Suggestions
JOC/EFR February 1996