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Girard Desargues (; 21 February 1591 – September 1661) was a French mathematician and engineer, who is considered one of the founders of projective geometry. 
Born in Lyon, Desargues came from a family devoted to service to the French crown. His father was a royal notary, an investigating commissioner of the Seneschal's court in Lyon (1574), the collector of the tithes on ecclesiastical revenues for the city of Lyon (1583) and for the
Sur la naissance de Girard Desargues.
''Revue d'histoire des sciences et de leurs applications'' Tome 15 n°2. pp. 165–166.
Gerard Desargues, Brouillon Project d'une Atteinte aux Evenemens des Rencontres du Cone avec un Plan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desargues, Girard 1591 births 1661 deaths 17th-century French mathematicians 17th-century French architects French engineers French geometers Architects from Lyon
Girard Desargues (; 21 February 1591 – September 1661) was a French mathematician and engineer, who is considered one of the founders of projective geometry. Desargues' theorem
In projective geometry, Desargues's theorem, named after Girard Desargues, states:
:Two triangles are in perspective ''axially'' if and only if they are in perspective ''centrally''.
Denote the three vertices of one triangle by and , and tho ...
, the Desargues graph
In the mathematical field of graph theory, the Desargues graph is a distance-transitive, cubic graph with 20 vertices and 30 edges. It is named after Girard Desargues, arises from several different combinatorial constructions, has a high level ...
, and the crater Desargues
Girard Desargues (; 21 February 1591 – September 1661) was a French mathematician and engineer, who is considered one of the founders of projective geometry. Desargues' theorem, the Desargues graph, and the crater Desargues (crater), Desarg ...
on the Moon are named in his honour.
Born in Lyon, Desargues came from a family devoted to service to the French crown. His father was a royal notary, an investigating commissioner of the Seneschal's court in Lyon (1574), the collector of the tithes on ecclesiastical revenues for the city of Lyon (1583) and for the diocese of Lyon
The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops ...
.
Girard Desargues worked as an architect from 1645. Prior to that, he had worked as a tutor and may have served as an engineer and technical consultant in the entourage of Richelieu
Richelieu (, ; ) may refer to:
People
* Cardinal Richelieu (Armand-Jean du Plessis, 1585–1642), Louis XIII's chief minister
* Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de Richelieu (1582–1653), French Carthusian bishop and Cardinal
* Louis François Armand ...
.
As an architect, Desargues planned several private and public buildings in Paris and Lyon. As an engineer, he designed a system for raising water that he installed near Paris. It was based on the use of the epicycloidal wheel, the principle of which was unrecognized at the time.
His research on perspective and geometrical projections can be seen as a culmination of centuries of scientific inquiry across the classical epoch in optics that stretched from al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen
Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham, Latinized as Alhazen (; full name ; ), was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq.For the description of his main fields, see e.g. ("He is one of the prin ...
) to Johannes Kepler, and going beyond a mere synthesis of these traditions with Renaissance perspective theories and practices.
His work was rediscovered and republished in 1864. A collection of his works was published in 1951, and the 1864 compilation remains in print. One notable work, often cited by others in mathematics, is "Rough draft for an essay on the results of taking plane sections of a cone" (1639).
Late in his life, Desargues published a paper with the cryptic title of ''DALG''. The most common theory about what this stands for is ''Des Argues, Lyonnais, Géometre'' (proposed by Henri Brocard).
He died in Lyon.
See also
* Desarguesian plane, non-Desarguesian plane *Desargues' theorem
In projective geometry, Desargues's theorem, named after Girard Desargues, states:
:Two triangles are in perspective ''axially'' if and only if they are in perspective ''centrally''.
Denote the three vertices of one triangle by and , and tho ...
*Desargues graph
In the mathematical field of graph theory, the Desargues graph is a distance-transitive, cubic graph with 20 vertices and 30 edges. It is named after Girard Desargues, arises from several different combinatorial constructions, has a high level ...
*Desargues configuration
In geometry, the Desargues configuration is a configuration of ten points and ten lines, with three points per line and three lines per point. It is named after Girard Desargues.
The Desargues configuration can be constructed in two dimensions f ...
*Desargues (crater)
Desargues is an ancient lunar impact crater that is located near the northern limb of the Moon, on the western hemisphere. It lies nearly due south of the crater Pascal, and southeast of Brianchon. The proximity of this crater to the limb means ...
* Perspective (graphical) / Perspective (visual)
* Optics
References
* J. V. Field & J. J. Gray (1987) ''The Geometrical Work of Girard Desargues'', Springer-Verlag, . *René Taton
René Taton (4 April 1915 – 9 August 2004) was a French author, historian of science, and long co-editor (along with Suzanne Delorme) of the ''Revue d'histoire des sciences''.
Life
He was born on 4 April 1915 in L'Échelle.
He died on 9 ...
(1962Sur la naissance de Girard Desargues.
''Revue d'histoire des sciences et de leurs applications'' Tome 15 n°2. pp. 165–166.
External links
*{{DEFAULTSORT:Desargues, Girard 1591 births 1661 deaths 17th-century French mathematicians 17th-century French architects French engineers French geometers Architects from Lyon