Giovanni Ceva facts for kids

Giovanni Ceva (born September 1, 1647 – died May 13, 1734) was a smart Italian mathematician. He is famous for proving a special rule in geometry called Ceva's theorem. His brother, Tommaso Ceva, was also a well-known poet and mathematician.

A Life of Learning

Giovanni Ceva went to school at a Jesuit college in Milan. Later, he studied at the University of Pisa. He even became a professor there.

In 1686, he moved to the University of Mantua. He became a Professor of Mathematics there. He worked in Mantua for the rest of his life.

Ceva's Important Discoveries

De lineis rectis se invicem secantibus statica constructio, 1678

Giovanni Ceva spent most of his life studying geometry. In 1678, he shared a very important rule. It was about triangles and was called Ceva's Theorem.

Understanding Ceva's Theorem

This theorem talks about lines drawn inside a triangle. Imagine a triangle with three corners. If you draw a line from each corner to the opposite side, these three lines can meet at one single point.

Ceva's Theorem explains exactly when these lines will meet. It says they meet if a certain math rule about the lengths of the line segments is true. This rule was actually known by another mathematician, Yusuf Al-Mu'taman ibn Hűd, long before Ceva. Ceva published his findings in a book called De lineis rectis.

Other Math Books and Ideas

Ceva also rediscovered and published Menelaus's theorem. This is another important rule in geometry. He wrote other books too. In 1682, he published Opuscula mathematica. In 1692, he wrote Geometria Motus. In this book, he had ideas that were similar to infinitesimal calculus. This is a type of advanced math.

Later, in 1711, Ceva wrote De Re Nummeraria. This was one of the first books about using math in money and business. This field is now called mathematical economics.

Work with Mechanics and Water

Giovanni Ceva also studied how mechanics and statics (the study of forces) apply to shapes. He looked at how things move and balance.

At one point, he made a small mistake about how pendulums swing. He thought their swing times were related to their lengths in a simple way. But he soon realized his error and fixed it.

Ceva also worked a lot with hydraulics. This is the study of how water moves. In 1728, he published Opus hydrostaticum. This book was all about his work in hydraulics. He even used his knowledge to stop a project. This project wanted to change the path of the Reno River into the Po River.

List of Ceva's Works

• Geometria Motus, 1692

• 

  Ragioni [...] contra l'introduzione del Reno nel Pò, 1716

• 

  Replica [...] in difesa delle sue dimostrazioni, e ragioni per la quali non debbasi introdurre Reno in Po, 1717

See also

In Spanish: Giovanni Ceva para niños

• Cevian