Pierre Léon Boutroux (; 6 December 1880 – 15 August 1922) was a
French mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
and historian of science. Boutroux is chiefly known for his work in the history and
philosophy of mathematics
The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and find out the place of mathematics in people's ...
.
Biography
He was born in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
on 6 December 1880 into a well connected family of the French intelligentsia. His father was the philosopher
Émile Boutroux
Étienne Émile Marie Boutroux (; 28 July 1845 – 22 November 1921) was an eminent 19th-century French philosopher of science and religion, and a historian of philosophy. He was a firm opponent of materialism in science. He was a spiritual p ...
. His mother was Aline Catherine Eugénie Poincaré, sister of the scientist and mathematician
Henri Poincaré
Jules Henri Poincaré ( S: stress final syllable ; 29 April 1854 – 17 July 1912) was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as "The ...
. A cousin of Aline,
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France.
Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in 1 ...
was to be
President of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
.
He occupied the mathematics chair at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
from 1913 until 1914. He occupied the History of sciences chair from 1920 to 1922.
Boutroux published his major work ''Les principes de l'analyse mathématique'' in two volumes; ''Volume 1'' in 1914 and ''Volume 2'' in 1919. This is a comprehensive view of the whole field of mathematics at the time.
He was an Invited Speaker of the
ICM in 1904 at Heidelberg, in 1908 at Rome, and in 1920 at Strasbourg.
He died on 15 August 1922, aged 41 years.
Works
* ''L'Imagination et les mathématiques selon
Descartes'' (1900)
* ''Sur quelques propriétés des fonctions entières'' (1903)
* ''Œuvres de
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer.
He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...
, publiées suivant l'ordre chronologique, avec documents complémentaires, introductions et notes, par
Léon Brunschvicg
Léon Brunschvicg (; 10 November 1869 – 18 January 1944) was a French Idealist philosopher. He co-founded the ''Revue de métaphysique et de morale'' with Xavier Leon and Élie Halévy in 1893.
Life
He was born into a Jewish family.
From ...
et Pierre Boutroux'' (1908)
* ''Leçons sur les fonctions définies par les équations différentielles du premier ordre, professées au Collège de France'' (1908)
* ''Les Principes de l'analyse mathématique, exposé historique et critique'' (2 volumes, 1914-1919
Texte en ligne 12
:Contient : (I) Les nombres, les grandeurs, les figures, le calcul combinatoire, le calcul algébrique, calcul des fonctions, l'algèbre géométrique. (2) La géométrie algébrique. Extensions de l'algèbre et constructions logiques. Extensions de l'algèbre ; les développements en séries. La méthode analytique en mathématiques. Analyse infinitésimale. Analyse des principes mathématiques. Analyse de la notion de fonction.
* ''L'Idéal scientifique des mathématiciens dans l'antiquité et dans les temps modernes'' (1920)Texte en ligne
* ''Les Mathématiques'' (1922)
References
Further reading
*R S Calinger, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990).
*L Brunschvicg, L'oeuvre de Pierre Boutroux, Revue de métaphysique et de morale 29-30 (1922), 285-289.
*Lettre de M Pierre Boutroux a M Mittag-Leffler, in The mathematical heritage of Henri Poincaré 2 (Providence, R.I., 1983), 441-445.
External links
*
*
*
at www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk
1880 births
1922 deaths
Academic staff of the Collège de France
Princeton University faculty
Mathematical analysts
19th-century French mathematicians
20th-century French mathematicians
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