Philbert Maurice d'Ocagne (25 March 1862 – 23 September 1938) was a French engineer and mathematician. He founded the field of nomography, the graphic computation of algebraic equations, on charts which he called
nomogram
A nomogram (from Greek , "law" and , "line"), also called a nomograph, alignment chart, or abac, is a graphical calculating device, a two-dimensional diagram designed to allow the approximate graphical computation of a mathematical function ...
.
Biography
Philbert-Maurice Ocagne was born in Paris on 25 March 1862. He attended high school at the Lycée Fontanges school in Paris, and studied at
Chaptal college. In 1877, he published his first mathematical work. In 1880, he entered the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
. He published many articles on math.
Starting in 1885, he served for six years as engineer, supporting waterworks projects in
Rochefort
Rochefort () may refer to:
Places France
* Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department
** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard
* Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department
* Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
and
Cherbourg
Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
, then worked at Seine-et-Oise, at the residence of
Pontoise
Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise.
Administration
Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...
. From 1882, he continued to published articles on mathematics in the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...
and major journals including ''
Journal of the École Polytechnique'', ''
Bulletin de la Société Mathématique de France
'' Bulletin de la Société Mathématique de France'' is a mathematics journal published quarterly by Société Mathématique de France.
Founded in 1873, the journal publishes articles on mathematics.
It publishes articles in French and English. ...
'', ''
Acta Mathematica
''Acta Mathematica'' is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal covering research in all fields of mathematics.
According to Cédric Villani, this journal is "considered by many to be the most prestigious of all mathematical research jou ...
'', ''
Archiv der Mathematik und Physik
Archiv Produktion is a classical music record label of German origin. It originated in 1949 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a subsidiary of DGG, specialising in recordi ...
'', and ''
American Journal of Mathematics
The ''American Journal of Mathematics'' is a bimonthly mathematics journal published by the Johns Hopkins University Press.
History
The ''American Journal of Mathematics'' is the oldest continuously published mathematical journal in the United S ...
''. He became a tutor (''répétiteur'') at the École Polytechnique in 1893, then in 1894 a professor at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. In 1891, he began publishing papers on
nomography.
In 1901, he was appointed deputy director of general
survey of France. Ten years later, he became chief of maps and plans and precision instruments for the Department of Public Works. He was appointed chief engineer in 1908. In 1912 he was appointed professor of geometry at the École Polytechnique, and became Inspector General of roads and bridges in 1920. In 1893, he joined the faculty of the Polytechnic School, first as instructor of astronomy and
geodesy
Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equival ...
. In early 1912, he became chair of geometry. In 1901, he became president of the
Mathematical Society of France. In 1922, he was admitted to the Academy of Sciences.
Family
Originally from the province of
Alençon
Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people).
History
The name of Alençon is fi ...
in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, his family can be traced to the 8th century. D'Ocagne's lineage came from the du Plessis family, and he used the pseudonym ''Philbert du Plessis'' in some of his scientific publications.
Mortimer d'Ocagne, Maurice's father, published widely on economic and financial topics and wrote a book on French higher education ''Les Grandes Ecoles de France''. He also served as the drama critic for the ''Revue Britannique'', going to the theater every night and never missing a premiere. He served as the dean of the subscribers of the Opera. He died in 1919 at the age of 98.
Awards
* Leconte Prize in 1892 for his work ''Nomographie''
* Dalmont Prize of the Academy of Sciences (Paris) in 1894, for his mathematical work
Selected works
* "Sur l'évaluation graphique des moments et des moments d'inertie des aires planes" (1884)
* ''Calcul graphique et nomographie'', Paris, Doin (1908)
References
Sources
* P. Humbert, "Maurice d’Ocagne (1862–1938)", Ciel et Terre, vol. 55, 1939, p. 108 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1939C%26T....55..108H
rchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocagne, Philbert Maurice d'
French mathematicians
1862 births
1938 deaths
Scientists from Paris
Lycée Condorcet alumni
École Polytechnique alumni
École Polytechnique faculty
Members of the Ligue de la patrie française
Members of the French Academy of Sciences