Previous (Chronologically) Next Biographies Index Previous ( Alphabetically) Next Welcome page
Riccati wrote on philosophy, physics and differential equations.
Originally entering Padua to read law, he became friends with Angeli who encouraged him to study mathematics. He soon attained fame and turned down offers from Peter the Great to become President of the St Petersburg Acanemy of Science, and other offers, to remain in Italy.
His work in hydrolics was useful to the city of Venice and he helped construct dikes along the canals. In the study of differential equations his methods of lowering the order of an equation and separating variables were important. He considered many general classes of differential equations and found methods of solution which were widely adopted.
He is chiefly known for the Riccati differential equation of which he made elaborate study and gave solutions for certain special cases. The equation had already been studied by Jacob Bernoulli, and was discussed by Riccati in a paper of 1724.
He corresponded with a large number of mathematicians throughout Europe and had a wide influence on Daniel Bernoulli, Euler. He also worked on cycloidal pendulums, the laws of resistance in a fluid and differential geometry.
Other Web sites:
References:
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