Guillaume de l'Hôpital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Guillaume de l'Hôpital
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| Born |
Guillaume François Antoine de l'Hôpital
1661 Paris, France
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| Died | 2 February 1704 (aged 42–43) Paris, France
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| Nationality | French |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematician |
| Institutions | French academy of sciences |
| Academic advisors | Johann Bernoulli |
Guillaume de l'Hôpital (born 1661 – died February 2, 1704) was a French mathematician. He is famous for l'Hôpital's rule. This rule helps calculate limits in math, especially when you have tricky forms like 0/0 or infinity/infinity.
Even though the rule is named after him, it was first explained in his 1696 book. This book was called Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour l'Intelligence des Lignes Courbes. It was the first book to clearly explain differential calculus. Many copies were printed and translated, making it a very important book for learning calculus.
Contents
Early Life and Math Journey
Guillaume de l'Hôpital came from a military family. His father was a high-ranking general in the King's army. His mother was also from an important family.
Guillaume decided not to join the military because his eyesight was poor. Instead, he followed his passion for mathematics, which he loved since he was a child.
Learning Calculus
In 1691, he met a young mathematician named Johann Bernoulli in Paris. Bernoulli was giving talks on infinitesimal calculus. He also gave private lessons to l'Hôpital at his home.
In 1693, l'Hôpital became a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He even served as its vice-president twice!
Key Discoveries
L'Hôpital made several important discoveries in math. He figured out how to measure the arc length of certain curves. He also helped solve the brachistochrone problem, a famous challenge in math.
He often shared ideas with other great thinkers of his time. He wrote letters to mathematicians like Gottfried Leibniz, Christiaan Huygens, and the Bernoulli brothers, Jacob and Johann Bernoulli.
His Famous Calculus Book
In 1696, l'Hôpital published his book, Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour l'Intelligence des Lignes Courbes. This title means "Infinitesimal calculus with applications to curved lines."
This book was the very first textbook on infinitesimal calculus. It clearly explained the ideas of differential calculus and how to use them with curved lines. It included many helpful drawings. However, it did not cover integration.
The Story Behind the Book
The story of how this book came to be was debated for a long time. In 1694, l'Hôpital made a deal with Johann Bernoulli. He would pay Bernoulli 300 Francs each year. In return, Bernoulli would share his new math discoveries only with l'Hôpital.
L'Hôpital felt it was fair to include these results in his book. He did mention that he was thankful to Leibniz and the Bernoulli brothers, "especially the younger one" (Johann).
After l'Hôpital died, Johann Bernoulli said that he had provided many parts of the book's text and ideas. In 1921, a manuscript of Bernoulli's lectures from 1691-1692 was found. It showed that his notes were very similar to l'Hôpital's book. This proved Bernoulli's claims were true.
Even with this, l'Hôpital is still praised for how well he organized and explained the math in his book. Analyse was very successful in making the ideas of differential calculus popular.
Personal Life
L'Hôpital married Marie-Charlotte de Romilley de La Chesnelaye. She was also a mathematician and came from a noble family. They had one son and three daughters.
See also
In Spanish: Guillaume de l'Hôpital para niños
Images for kids
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An illustration from Acta Eruditorum, 1695.
