Michel Chasles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michel Chasles
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Michel Chasles
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| Born | 15 November 1793 Épernon, France
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| Died | 18 December 1880 (aged 87) |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École Polytechnique |
| Known for | Chasles's theorems |
| Awards | Copley Medal (1865) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Doctoral advisor | Siméon Denis Poisson |
| Doctoral students | Jean Gaston Darboux Hubert Anson Newton |
Michel Floréal Chasles (born November 15, 1793 – died December 18, 1880) was a famous French mathematician. He made many important discoveries in geometry and how things move. His work helped shape modern mathematics.
Contents
Who Was Michel Chasles?
Michel Chasles was born in a town called Épernon in France. He went to a top school in Paris, the École Polytechnique. There, he studied mathematics with a great teacher named Siméon Denis Poisson.
Early Life and Choosing Math
In 1814, when he was young, Michel Chasles had to join the army. He helped defend Paris during a big war. After the war, he decided not to become an engineer or work with money. Instead, he chose to focus completely on his love for mathematics.
Chasles's Big Ideas in Geometry
Michel Chasles became well-known for his work in a part of math called geometry. He wrote important books and discovered new ways to understand shapes and spaces.
His Famous Book
In 1837, Chasles published a very important book. Its title means "Historical view of the origin and development of methods in geometry." This book looked at how different ways of solving geometry problems grew over time. It especially focused on a method called "reciprocal polars" in projective geometry.
This book made him very famous and respected. Because of his work, he became a professor at the École Polytechnique in 1841. Later, in 1846, he got a special teaching position at the Sorbonne. His book was so good that a second edition came out in 1875.
Solving Math Puzzles
Chasles also helped solve a tricky math problem. Another mathematician, Jakob Steiner, had asked how many special curves (called conic sections) could touch five other given curves. Steiner had the wrong answer.
Chasles created a new way of thinking called "theory of characteristics." This helped him find the correct answer: there are 3264 such curves! This area of math is called enumerative geometry.
Chasles's Theorems
Michel Chasles discovered several important rules in mathematics. Many of these are simply called Chasles's theorem. For example, in the study of how things move (called kinematics), he showed that any way a solid object moves in space can be seen as a "screw displacement." This idea was very important for understanding how rigid bodies move.
Awards and Recognition
Michel Chasles received many honors for his amazing work.
- In 1864, he was chosen as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- In 1865, he won the Copley Medal, which is a very important science award.
- His name is also one of the 72 names written on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. This shows how important he was to France.
A Strange Story: The Forged Letters
Michel Chasles was a brilliant mathematician, but he was also involved in a strange event. Between 1861 and 1869, he bought many old letters. He thought they were real and very valuable.
However, these 27,000 letters were actually fakes! A man named Denis Vrain-Lucas had forged them. These fake letters included ones supposedly from famous historical figures like Alexander the Great to Aristotle, and even from Cleopatra to Julius Caesar. They were all written in fake old French. This story shows that even very smart people can sometimes be tricked.
Chasles's Lasting Impact
Michel Chasles's work continues to be important today. He helped us better understand old mathematical texts. For example, he studied a book called the Collection by Pappus of Alexandria.
Chasles was the first to notice that certain mathematical ideas, like "cross-ratios," appeared in these old texts. Even if we don't know exactly which of his ideas matched those of ancient mathematicians like Euclid, his work helped us see how modern geometry connects to the past.
See also
- Chasles–Cayley–Brill formula
- Chasles's theorem (disambiguation)
- Asteroid 18510 Chasles
