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Mathematicians Of The Day
20th January
On this day in 1633, Galileo, at age 68, left his home in Florence, Italy, to face the Inquisition in Rome. By 22 Jun 1633, he buckled under the threats and interrogation by the Inquisition, and renounced his belief that the Earth revolved around the Sun.
The postage stamp of one of today's mathematicians at THIS LINK was issued in 1936.
The postage stamp of one of today's mathematicians at THIS LINK was issued in 1936.
Click on Ⓟ for a poster.
Born:
- 1573: Simon Mayr Ⓟ
- 1775: André-Marie Ampère Ⓟ
- 1831: Edward Routh Ⓟ
- 1895: Gábor Szegő Ⓟ
- 1904: Renato Caccioppoli Ⓟ
- 1920: Edwin Hewitt Ⓟ
- 1937: John Knopfmacher Ⓟ
Died:
- 1590: Giovanni Benedetti Ⓟ
- 1760: John Colson Ⓟ
- 1864: Giovanni Plana Ⓟ
- 1872: Henry Moseley Ⓟ
- 1907: Agnes Mary Clerke Ⓟ
- 1921: Mary Whitney Ⓟ
- 1955: Alexander Durie Russell Ⓟ
- 1971: Jan A Schouten Ⓟ
- 2001: Crispin Nash-Williams Ⓟ
Quotation of the day
From André-Marie Ampère
Either one or the other [analysis or synthesis] may be direct or indirect. The direct procedure is when the point of departure is known-direct synthesis in the elements of geometry. By combining at random simple truths with each other, more complicated ones are deduced from them. This is the method of discovery, the special method of inventions, contrary to popular opinion.
[Ampère gives this example drawn from geometry to illustrate his meaning for
direct synthesis
when deductions following from more simple, already-known theorems leads to a new discovery.]
