Pafnuty Chebyshev facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pafnuty Chebyshev
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Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev
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| Born | 16 May 1821 Akatovo, Kaluga Governorate, Russian Empire
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| Died | 8 December 1894 (aged 73) |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Other names | Chebysheff, Chebyshov, Tschebyscheff, Tschebycheff, Tchebycheff |
| Alma mater | Moscow University |
| Known for | Work on probability, statistics, mechanics, analytical geometry and number theory |
| Awards | Demidov Prize (1849) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematician |
| Institutions | St. Petersburg University |
| Academic advisors | Nikolai Brashman |
| Notable students | Dmitry Grave Aleksandr Korkin Aleksandr Lyapunov Andrey Markov Vladimir Andreevich Markov Konstantin Posse Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev |
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Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev (Russian: Пафну́тий Льво́вич Чебышёв) (May 16, 1821 – December 8, 1894) was a very important Russian mathematician. Many people see him as the person who started Russian mathematics.
Chebyshev made big contributions to many areas of math. These include probability (the study of chance), statistics (collecting and understanding data), mechanics (how things move), and number theory (the study of numbers).
Many important math ideas are named after him. These include the Chebyshev inequality, which helps understand how data spreads out. There's also the Bertrand–Chebyshev theorem about prime numbers, and Chebyshev polynomials.
Contents
Discovering Pafnuty Chebyshev's Life
Early Life and Education
Pafnuty Chebyshev was born in a village called Okatovo in Russia. He was one of nine children. His father, Lev Pavlovich, was a wealthy nobleman.
Chebyshev first learned at home. His mother taught him reading and writing. His cousin taught him French and arithmetic. He also said his music teacher helped him learn to be exact and analytical in his thinking.
As a child, Chebyshev had a limp and used a stick to walk. Because of this, his parents decided he wouldn't become an officer, which was a family tradition. His disability meant he couldn't play many games. Instead, he spent his time studying mathematics.
In 1832, his family moved to Moscow. They wanted their older sons, Pafnuty and Pavel, to get a good education. Pavel later became a lawyer. Pafnuty continued to learn at home with excellent teachers. One of his math and physics teachers, P.N. Pogorelski, was considered one of the best in Moscow.
University Studies and Early Work
In 1837, Chebyshev passed his entrance exams and started studying math at Moscow University. His teachers included N.D. Brashman, who had a big influence on him. Brashman taught him about practical mechanics.
In 1841, Chebyshev won a silver medal for his work on "calculation of the roots of equations." This work showed a way to find approximate solutions for complex equations. He finished his studies that same year as a "most outstanding candidate."
His family faced financial difficulties in 1841 due to a famine. Even though his parents couldn't support him, Chebyshev decided to continue his math studies. He prepared for his master's exams, which took six months. In 1843, he passed these exams. In 1846, he defended his master's thesis, which was about the basic ideas of probability theory.
Becoming a Professor and Researcher
In 1847, Chebyshev presented his thesis "On integration with the help of logarithms" at St Petersburg University. This allowed him to teach there as a lecturer. He was encouraged to study the works of the famous mathematician Leonhard Euler. This greatly influenced Chebyshev's future work.
In 1848, he submitted his work The Theory of Congruences for his doctorate degree. He successfully defended it in May 1849. He quickly rose through the ranks at St Petersburg University. He became an extraordinary professor in 1850 and an ordinary professor in 1860. After 25 years of teaching, he became a merited professor in 1872. In 1882, he left the university to focus entirely on his research.
While teaching at the university, from 1852 to 1858, Chebyshev also taught practical mechanics. He taught at the Alexander Lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo, which is now Pushkin.
His amazing scientific achievements led to him being elected as a junior academician in 1856. He later became a full member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. He also became an honorary member of Moscow University in the same year. He received many other honors and awards throughout his life.
In 1856, Chebyshev joined the scientific committee of the ministry of national education. In 1859, he became a member of the ordnance department of the academy. Here, he led a group that worked on math problems related to weapons and ballistics (the study of how projectiles move).
The Paris academy also recognized his work. They elected him as a corresponding member in 1860 and a full foreign member in 1874. In 1893, he became an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Mathematical Society. This society had been founded just three years earlier.
Chebyshev passed away in St Petersburg on November 26, 1894.
Chebyshev's Big Ideas in Mathematics
Chebyshev is famous for his work in several math fields. These include probability, statistics, mechanics, and number theory.
Understanding Probability with Chebyshev's Inequality
The Chebyshev inequality is a very useful tool in probability. It helps us understand how likely it is for a random event to be far from its average value. Imagine you have a set of numbers. This inequality tells you that the chance of a number being very far from the average is quite small.
This inequality is also used to prove the weak law of large numbers. This law basically says that if you repeat an experiment many times, the average of your results will get closer and closer to the true average.
Exploring Prime Numbers
The Bertrand–Chebyshev theorem is another important result. It states that for any number greater than 3, you can always find a prime number between that number and its double. For example, if you pick 5, there's a prime number between 5 and 10 (like 7).
Chebyshev also studied how prime numbers are distributed. He found inequalities that helped estimate how many prime numbers exist below a certain value. This work was a step towards the famous prime number theorem. This theorem gives a more precise way to estimate the number of primes.
Other Key Contributions
Chebyshev also developed Chebyshev polynomials. These are special types of polynomials that are very useful in different areas of mathematics and engineering.
He also studied something called Chebyshev bias. This looks at the difference between certain types of prime numbers.
Chebyshev was one of the first mathematicians to think about random variables and their "moments." These are ways to describe the shape and spread of data.
Chebyshev's Lasting Impact
Pafnuty Chebyshev is known as a founding father of Russian mathematics. He taught and inspired many future mathematicians. Some of his well-known students include Dmitry Grave, Aleksandr Korkin, Aleksandr Lyapunov, and Andrei Markov.
According to the Mathematics Genealogy Project, Chebyshev has thousands of mathematical "descendants." This means many mathematicians today can trace their academic lineage back to him.
To honor his great achievements in mathematics, a crater on the Moon was named Chebyshev. Also, an asteroid, 2010 Chebyshev, was named after him.
Images for kids
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Chebyshev's signature
See also
- List of things named after Pafnuty Chebyshev
