Frans van Schooten facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frans van Schooten
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| Born | 1615 |
| Died | 29 May 1660 |
| Known for | Van Schooten's theorem |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
Frans van Schooten Jr. was a Dutch mathematician. He was born in Leiden on May 15, 1615, and passed away there on May 29, 1660. He is best known for helping to spread the ideas of analytic geometry from René Descartes.
Life of Frans van Schooten
Frans van Schooten's father, Frans van Schooten Senior, was also a math professor. He taught at the University of Leiden. Famous students like Christiaan Huygens learned from him.
In 1632, Frans van Schooten met René Descartes. He read Descartes' important math book, Géométrie, before it was even published. He found it hard to understand at first. So, he traveled to France to study the works of other great mathematicians. These included François Viète and Pierre de Fermat.
When Frans van Schooten came back to Leiden in 1646, he took over his father's job. He also continued teaching some of his father's students, like Christiaan Huygens.
Frans van Schooten's Work
In 1649, Frans van Schooten translated Descartes' Géométrie into Latin. He also added his own notes to explain it. This was very important because it made Descartes' difficult work easier for many other mathematicians to understand. This helped analytic geometry spread around the world.
Over the next ten years, he worked with other mathematicians. These included Florimond de Beaune, Johannes Hudde, Hendrik van Heuraet, and Johan de Witt. Together, they made the notes even bigger. They published two more volumes in 1659 and 1661. This new, larger edition was much more important than the first one. Famous mathematicians like Gottfried Leibniz and Isaac Newton learned from this edition.
Frans van Schooten was one of the first people to suggest new ideas. In 1657, he published exercises that showed how to use these math ideas in three-dimensional space. Because of his efforts, the city of Leiden became a very important center for mathematics for a while in the 1600s.
In geometry, a special rule called Van Schooten's theorem is named after him.
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