Pietro Cossali (29 June 1748 — 20 December 1815) was an Italian
mathematician,
physicist and
astronomer.
From 1787 to 1805, he taught physics at the
University of Parma. In 1805,
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
named Cossali a professor of higher calculus at the
University of Padua.
[Joseph W. Dauben, Christoph J. Scrib]
Writing the History of Mathematics: Its Historical Development
3.5.1. Pietro Cossali, p. 69-70
From 1797 to 1799, he wrote ''Origin, Transmission to Italy, and Early Progress of Algebra There'' ( it, Origine, transporto in Italia, primi progressi in essa dell'algebra), in which he describes mathematical achievements from the emergence of algebra due to
Fibonacci to the new research on ''
casus irreducibilis'' in the 18th century. This work can be considered the first professional text on the history of Italian mathematics. In this work, Cossali corrects some factual mistakes made earlier by
Jean Paul de Gua de Malves,
John Wallis
John Wallis (; la, Wallisius; ) was an English clergyman and mathematician who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 he served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal ...
and
Jean-Étienne Montucla, although he makes another important error in attributing everything after Fibonacci and before
Luca Pacioli
Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (sometimes ''Paccioli'' or ''Paciolo''; 1447 – 19 June 1517) was an Italian mathematician, Franciscan friar, collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci, and an early contributor to the field now known as accounting ...
to the latter.
Besides his works on mathematics and its history, Cossali also wrote on astronomy. His articles were published in ''Ephémérides astronomiques.''
References
External links
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Italian mathematicians
1748 births
1815 deaths
{{Italy-mathematician-stub