Luigi Cremona
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Antonio Luigi Gaudenzio Giuseppe Cremona (7 December 1830 – 10 June 1903) was an Italian mathematician. His life was devoted to the study of
geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
and reforming advanced mathematical teaching in Italy. He worked on
algebraic curve In mathematics, an affine algebraic plane curve is the zero set of a polynomial in two variables. A projective algebraic plane curve is the zero set in a projective plane of a homogeneous polynomial in three variables. An affine algebraic plane c ...
s and
algebraic surface In mathematics, an algebraic surface is an algebraic variety of dimension two. In the case of geometry over the field of complex numbers, an algebraic surface has complex dimension two (as a complex manifold, when it is non-singular) and so of di ...
s, particularly through his paper ''Introduzione ad una teoria geometrica delle curve piane'' ("Introduction to a geometrical theory of the plane curves"), and was a founder of the
Italian school of algebraic geometry In relation to the history of mathematics, the Italian school of algebraic geometry refers to mathematicians and their work in birational geometry, particularly on algebraic surfaces, centered around Rome roughly from 1885 to 1935. There were 30 ...
.


Biography

Luigi Cremona was born in
Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...
(
Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
), then part of the
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
-controlled
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...
. His youngest brother was the painter Tranquillo Cremona. In 1848, when
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
rose against Austria, Cremona, then only seventeen, joined the ranks of the Italian volunteers. He remained with them, fighting on behalf of his country's freedom, until, in 1849, the capitulation of
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
put an end to the campaign. He then returned to Pavia, where he pursued his studies at the university under
Francesco Brioschi Francesco Brioschi (22 December 1824 – 13 December 1897) was an Italian mathematician. Biography Brioschi was born in Milan in 1824. He graduated from the Collegio Borromeo in 1847. From 1850 he taught analytical mechanics in the University o ...
, and determined to seek a career as teacher of mathematics. He graduated in 1853 as '' dottore negli studi di ingegnere civile e architetto''. Cremona is noted for the important role he played in bringing about the great geometrical advances in Italy. While, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Italy had very little mathematical standing, the end of the century found Italy in the lead along geometric lines, largely as a result of the work of Cremona. He was very influential in bringing about reforms in the secondary schools of Italy and became a leader in questions of mathematical pedagogy as well as in those relating to the advancement of knowledge. The mathematical advances which Italy made since the middle of the nineteenth century were largely guided by Cremona, Brioschi, and Beltrami. His first appointment was as elementary mathematical master at the gymnasium and lyceum of
Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...
, and he afterwards obtained a similar post at
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. In 1860 he was appointed to the professorship of higher geometry at the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
, and in 1866 to that of higher geometry and graphical statics at the higher technical college of Milan. In this same year he competed for the Steiner Prize of the Berlin Academy, with a treatise entitled ''Memoria sulle superfici del terzo ordine'', and shared the award with J. C. F. Sturm. Two years later the same prize was conferred on him without competition. As early as 1856 Cremona had begun to contribute to the ''Annali di scienze matematiche e fisiche'', and to the ''Annali di matematica'', of which he became afterwards joint editor. Papers by him appeared in the mathematical journals of Italy, France, Germany and England, and he published several important works, many of which have been translated into other languages. His manual ''Graphical
Statics Statics is the branch of classical mechanics that is concerned with the analysis of force and torque (also called moment) acting on physical systems that do not experience an acceleration (''a''=0), but rather, are in static equilibrium with ...
'' and his ''Elements of Projective Geometry'' (translated by
Thomas Hudson Beare Sir Thomas Hudson Beare FRSE RSSA (30 June 1859 – 10 June 1940) was an eminent British engineer. He was successively Professor of Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, at University College, London (where he was a colleague of K ...
and C. Leudesdorf respectively) were published in English by the
Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. In 1873 he was called to Rome to organize the Royal College of Engineering, and was also appointed professor of higher mathematics at the
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. Cremona's reputation had now become European, and in 1879 he was elected a corresponding member of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. In the same year he became a member of the
senate of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by the ...
. In 1898 he was briefly minister for education. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences elected Cremona as member in 1901. The following year, he was awarded the German
Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...
for Sciences and Arts. He died in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
in 1903.


Works


''Elementi di calcolo grafico: ad uso degli Istituti Tecnici''
(Stamperia reale di G. B. Paravia e C., Torino, 1874)
''Elementi di geometria projettiva''
(G. B. Paravia e Comp., Torino, 1873)
''Introduzione ad una teoria geometrica delle curve piane''
(Tipi Gamberini e Parmeggiani, Bologna, 1862)
''Le figure reciproche nella statica grafica''
(Tipografia di G. Bernardoni, Milano, 1872)
''Opere matematiche di Luigi Cremona; pubblicati sotto gli auspici della R. Accademia dei Lincei''
(U. Hoepli, Milano, 1914)
''Preliminari di una teoria geometrica delle superficie''
(Tipi Gamberini e Parmeggiani, Bologna, 1866)
''Elements of projective geometry''
(Clarendon press, Oxford, 1885) (translation by Charles Leudesdorf)
''Graphical statics. Two treatises on the graphical calculus and reciprocal figures in graphical statics''
(Clarendon press, Oxford, 1890) (Translated by
Thomas Hudson Beare Sir Thomas Hudson Beare FRSE RSSA (30 June 1859 – 10 June 1940) was an eminent British engineer. He was successively Professor of Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, at University College, London (where he was a colleague of K ...
.)


See also

*
Cremona diagram The Cremona diagram, also known as the Cremona-James Clerk Maxwell, Maxwell method, is a graphical method used in statics of trusses to determine the forces in members (graphic statics). The method was developed by the Italian mathematician Luigi ...
*
Cremona group In algebraic geometry, the Cremona group, introduced by , is the group of birational automorphisms of the n-dimensional projective space over a field It is denoted by Cr(\mathbb^n(k)) or Bir(\mathbb^n(k)) or Cr_n(k). The Cremona group is natura ...
*
Cremona–Richmond configuration In mathematics, the Cremona–Richmond configuration is a configuration of 15 lines and 15 points, having 3 points on each line and 3 lines through each point, and containing no triangles. It was studied by and . It is a generalized quadrangle wit ...
*
Truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...


References


Sources

* * *
G. B. Mathews 250px George Ballard Mathews, FRS (23 February 1861 – 19 March 1922) was an English mathematician. He was born in London. He studied at the Ludlow Grammar School which had instruction in Hebrew and Sanscrit as well as in Greek and Latin. He p ...
(1917
Opere Matematiche di Luigi Cremona
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
100:23 (#2498). * * *Tricomi: La Matematica Italiana 1800–1950 (entry o
Cremona


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cremona, Luigi 1830 births 1903 deaths Scientists from Pavia Algebraic geometers 19th-century Italian mathematicians 20th-century Italian mathematicians Foreign Members of the Royal Society Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) University of Pavia alumni