Giulio Fagnano

Giulio Carlo Fagnano dei Toschi

Born: 6 Dec 1682 in Sinigaglia, Italy
Died: 26 Sept 1766 in Sinigaglia, Italy

Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page
Giulio Fagnano suggested new methods of solving equations of degree 2,3 and 4. He improved Bombelli's work on complex numbers. Considering triangles he looked at interesting problems such as:

Given ABC find P minimising PA^2+PB^2+PC^2.

For a quadrilateral ABCD find P minimising AP+BP+CP+DP .

He also discovered that if X is the centre of gravity of the triangle ABC then XA^2+XB^2+XC^2 = (AB^2+BC^2+CA^2)/3. In his study of the rectification of the lemniscate, Giulio Carlo Fagnano introduced ingenious analytic transformations that laid the foundation for the theory of elliptic integrals and his work was to lead to elliptic functions. He made many other major contributions.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Giulio Cesare Fagnano, Enciclopedia italiana XIV (1932). 
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