Wessel

Caspar Wessel

Born: 8 June 1745 in Vestby (near Dröbak), Denmark (now Norway)
Died: 25 March 1818 in Copenhagen, Denmark

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Wessel was a surveyor who produced, in 1799, a geometrical interpretation of the complex numbers. Although in some sense an important work, it failed to have any impact. It was rediscovered by Argand (1806) and again by Gauss (1831).

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. V Brun, Caspar Wessel et l'introduction géometrique des nombres complexes, Revue d'histoire des sciences et de leur applications 12 (1959), 19-24. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996