Tommaso Ceva facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tommaso Ceva
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Tommaso Ceva
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| Born | December 20, 1648 |
| Died | February 3, 1737 (aged 88) Milan, Duchy of Milan
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| Nationality | Italian |
| Parent(s) | Carlo Francesco Ceva and Paola Ceva (née de' Colombi) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | mathematics |
| Institutions | Brera College |
| Notable students |
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Tommaso Ceva (born December 20, 1648, died February 3, 1737) was an Italian mathematician and a Jesuit priest from Milan. He was the brother of another famous mathematician, Giovanni Ceva. Tommaso helped share the important ideas of Isaac Newton, especially Newton's law of gravity, with more people.
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Early Life and Education
Tommaso Ceva was born in Milan, Italy, in 1648 to a rich family. He studied at the Collegio di Brera, a Jesuit college in Milan. On March 24, 1663, he joined the Society of Jesus, which is a religious order.
A Teacher and Thinker
Ceva taught mathematics and public speaking at the Jesuit College of Brera in Milan for 38 years. One of his most famous students was Giovanni Girolamo Saccheri, who became an important mathematician himself.
Tommaso Ceva was also part of a group called Academia Vigilantium, led by Celia Grillo Borromeo. Later, Emperor Joseph I named Ceva a special theologian (a religious scholar) for the empire.
His Scientific Work
Ceva's first scientific book, De natura gravium (published in 1669), talked about physics topics. These included gravity and how things fall freely. He wrote about these ideas in a philosophical way.
His only book focused on mathematics was Opuscula Mathematica, published in 1699. This book covered geometry, gravity, and arithmetic. Ceva also invented a special tool. This tool could divide a right angle into a specific number of equal parts.
In his book Philosophia novo-antiqua (1704), Ceva defended older ways of thinking. He tried to combine the best ideas from ancient and modern natural philosophy (which was like science back then). This book discussed topics from mathematics to how the universe works and how things move. He also talked about new ideas of his time, like the idea that the Earth goes around the Sun.
A Talented Poet
Besides his scientific work, Tommaso Ceva was also a well-known poet. He spent a lot of time writing poems. He wrote a Latin poem called Jesus Puer, which was dedicated to Emperor Joseph I. This poem was so popular that it was translated into many languages, including German and Italian.
In 1718, he became a member of the Pontifical Academy of Arcadia, a famous group for poets and writers. He also exchanged letters with other important thinkers like Vincenzo Viviani and Luigi Guido Grandi. He was a close friend of the mathematician Pietro Paolo Caravaggio and his son.
Tommaso Ceva passed away in Milan in 1737.
See also
In Spanish: Tommaso Ceva para niños
- List of Jesuit scientists
- List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
