Lorenzo Mascheroni facts for kids
Lorenzo Mascheroni (born May 13, 1750 – died July 14, 1800) was an important Italian mathematician. He made discoveries in geometry and other areas of mathematics.
About Lorenzo Mascheroni
Lorenzo Mascheroni was born near a city called Bergamo in Lombardy, Italy. When he was young, he was very interested in subjects like poetry and the Greek language. But later, he became a professor of mathematics at a university in Pavia.
Amazing Discoveries in Geometry
One of Mascheroni's most famous books was Geometria del Compasso. He published it in 1797. In this book, he showed something amazing. He proved that you can do any geometric drawing using only a compass. You don't even need a straightedge (a ruler without marks)!
This idea is now called the Mohr–Mascheroni theorem. However, another mathematician named Georg Mohr from Denmark had actually found this out earlier. He published his proof in 1672. But his book was not well-known at the time.
The Euler–Mascheroni Constant
Mascheroni also worked on other math problems. In 1790, he published a calculation for a special number. This number is now known as the Euler–Mascheroni constant. It is often shown with the Greek letter γ (gamma).
Lorenzo Mascheroni passed away in Paris, France.
