Joseph-Louis Lagrange
Mathematician and astronomer (1736–1813) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mathematician and astronomer (1736–1813) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Lodovico [Luigi] Lagrangia, Turin, Piedmont, 25 January 1736 – Paris, 10 April 1813) was a mathematician and astronomer. According to one authority, he was "the greatest mathematician of the eighteenth century".[1]
Joseph-Louis Lagrange | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 25 January 1736 |
| Died | 10 April 1813 (aged 77) Paris, France |
| Nationality | Italian French |
| Known for | Analytical mechanics Celestial mechanics Mathematical analysis Number theory |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics Mathematical physics |
| Institutions | École Polytechnique |
| Doctoral advisor | Leonhard Euler |
| Doctoral students | Joseph Fourier Giovanni Plana Siméon Poisson |
| Notes | |
Note he did not have a doctoral advisor but academic genealogy authorities link his intellectual heritage to Leonhard Euler, who played the equivalent role. | |
He lived part of his life in Prussia and part in France. He made significant contributions to mathematical analysis, from number theory, to classical and celestial mechanics.
On the recommendation of Euler and d'Alembert, in 1766 Lagrange succeeded Euler as the director of mathematics at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. He stayed there for over twenty years, producing a large body of work and winning several prizes of the French Academy of Sciences.
Lagrange's treatise on analytical mechanics, first published in 1788, was the best treatment of classical mechanics since Newton, and helped the development of mathematical physics in the nineteenth century.[2]
Lagrange's parents were Italian, although he also had French ancestors on his father's side. In 1787, at age 51, he moved from Berlin to France and became a member of the French Academy, and he remained in France until the end of his life. Therefore, Lagrange is alternatively considered a French and an Italian scientist.
Lagrange survived the French Revolution and became the first professor of analysis at the École Polytechnique upon its opening in 1794. Napoleon appointed Lagrange to the Legion of Honour and made him a Count of the Empire in 1808. Lagrange is buried in the Panthéon and his name appears as one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.[1]
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