Mathematical notation comprises the symbols used to write mathematical equations and formulas.

It includes Hindu-Arabic numerals, letters from the Roman, Greek, Hebrew, and German alphabets, and a host of symbols invented by mathematicians over the past several centuries. The development of mathematical notation for algebra can be divided in three stages. The first is "rhetorical", where all calculations are performed by words and no symbols are used. Most medieval Islamic mathematicians belonged to this stage. The second is "syncopated", where frequently used operations and quantities are represented by symbolic abbreviations. To this stage Diophantusbelonged. The third is "symbolic", which is a more comprehensive system of notation that replaces much of rhetoric. This system was in use by medieval Indian mathematicians and in Europe since the middle of the 17th century,[1] and has continued to develop down to the present day.

Brahmagupta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brahmagupta (Sanskrit: ; listen (helpinfo)) (597668 AD) was

a Indian mathematician and astronomer who wrote many important works on mathematics and astronomy. His best known work is the Brhmasphuasiddhnta (Correctly Established Doctrine of Brahma), written in 628 in Bhinmal. Its 25 chapters contain several unprecedented mathematical results. Brahmagupta was the first to use zero as a number. He gave rules to compute with zero. Brahmagupta used negative numbers and zero for computing. The modern rule that two negative numbers multiplied together equals a positive number first appears in Brahmasputa siddhanta. It is composed in elliptic verse, as was common practice in Indian mathematics, and consequently has a poetic ring to it. As no proofs are given, it is not known how Brahmagupta's mathematics was derived.[1]

Life and work [edit]

Brahmagupta is believed to have been born in 598 AD in Bhinmal city in the state of Rajasthan of Northwest India. In ancient times Bhillamala was the seat of power of the Gurjars. His father was Jisnugupta.[2] He likely lived most of his life in Bhillamala (modern Bhinmal in Rajasthan) during the reign (and possibly under the patronage) of King Vyaghramukha.[3] As a result, Brahmagupta is often referred to as Bhillamalacharya, that is,

the teacher from Bhillamala. He was the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, and during his tenure there wrote four texts on mathematics and astronomy: the Cadamekela in 624, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta in 628, the Khandakhadyaka in 665, and the Durkeamynarda in 672. The Brahmasphutasiddhanta (Corrected Treatise of Brahma) is arguably his most famous work. The historian al-Biruni (c. 1050) in his book Tariq alHind states that the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun had an embassy in India and from India a book was brought to Baghdad which was translated into Arabic as Sindhind. It is generally presumed that Sindhind is none other than Brahmagupta's Brahmasphuta-siddhanta.[4] Although Brahmagupta was familiar with the works of astronomers following the tradition of Aryabhatiya, it is not known if he was familiar with the work of Bhaskara I, a contemporary.[3] Brahmagupta had a plethora of criticism directed towards the work of rival astronomers, and in his Brahmasphutasiddhanta is found one of the earliest attested schisms among Indian mathematicians. The division was primarily about the application of mathematics to the physical world, rather than about the mathematics itself. In Brahmagupta's case, the disagreements stemmed largely from the choice of astronomical parameters and theories. [3] Critiques of rival theories appear throughout the first ten astronomical chapters and the eleventh chapter is entirely devoted to criticism of these theories, although no criticisms appear in the twelfth and eighteenth chapters. [3] rce.[6]

Arithmetic [edit]
Four fundamental operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) were known to many cultures before Brahmagupta. This current system is based on the Hindu Arabic number system and first appeared in Brahmasputa siddhanta. Brahmagupta d escribes the multiplication as thus The multiplicand is repeated like a string for cattle, as often as there are integrant portions in the multiplier and is repeatedly multiplied by them and the products are added together. It is multiplication. Or the multiplicand is repeated as many times as there are component parts in the multiplier.
[7]

Indian

arithmetic was known in Medieval Europe as "Modus Indoram" meaning method of the Indians. In BrahmasputhaSiddhanta, Multiplication was named Gomutrika. In the beginning of chapter twelve of hisBrahmasphutasiddhanta, entitled Calculation, Brahmagupta details operations on fractions. The reader is expected to know the basic arithmetic operations as far as taking the square root, although he explains how to find the cube and cube-root of an integer and later gives rules facilitating the computation of squares and square roots. He then gives rules for dealing with five types of combinations of fractions, and .[8] , , , ,

Series [edit]
Brahmagupta then goes on to give the sum of the squares and cubes of the first n integers.

12.20. The sum of the squares is that [sum] multiplied by twice the [number of] step[s] increased by one [and] divided by three. The sum of the cubes is the square of that [sum] Piles of these with identical balls [can also be computed].[9] Here Brahmagupta found the result in terms of the sum of the first n integers, rather than in terms of n as is the modern practice.[10] He gives the sum of the squares of the first n natural numbers as n(n+1)(2n+1)/6 and the sum of the cubes of the first n natural numbers as (n(n+1)/2).

Zero [edit]
Brahmagupta's Brahmasphuasiddhanta is the first book that mentions zero as a number, hence Brahmagupta is considered the first to formulate the concept of zero. He gave rules of using zero with negative and positive numbers. Zero plus a positive number is the positive number and negative number plus zero is a negative number etc. The Brahmasphutasiddhanta is the earliest known text to treat zero as a number in its own right, rather than as simply a placeholder digit in representing another number as was done by theBabylonians or as a symbol for a lack of quantity as was done by Ptolemy and the Romans. In chapter eighteen of hisBrahmasphutasiddhanta, Brahmagupta describes operations on negative numbers. He first describes addition and subtraction, 18.30. [The sum] of two positives is positives, of two negatives negative; of a positive and a negative [the sum] is their difference; if they are equal it is zero. The sum of a negative and zero is negative, [that] of a positive and zero positive, [and that] of two zeros zero. [...] 18.32. A negative minus zero is negative, a positive [minus zero] positive; zero [minus zero] is zero. When a positive is to be subtracted from a negative or a negative from a positive, then it is to be added.[5] He goes on to describe multiplication, 18.33. The product of a negative and a positive is negative, of two negatives positive, and of positives positive; the product of zero and a negative, of zero and a positive, or of two zeros is zero.[5] But his description of division by zero differs from our modern understanding, 18.34. A positive divided by a positive or a negative divided by a negative is positive; a zero divided by a zero is zero; a positive divided by a negative is negative; a negative divided by a positive is [also] negative. 18.35. A negative or a positive divided by zero has that [zero] as its divisor, or zero divided by a negative or a positive [has that negative or positive as its divisor]. The square of a negative

or of a positive is positive; [the square] of zero is zero. That of which [the square] is the square is [its] square-root.[5] Here Brahmagupta states that and as for the question of where he did not commit

himself.[11] His rules for arithmeticon negative numbers and zero are quite close to the modern understanding, except that in modern mathematics division by zero is leftundefined.

Diophantine analysis [edit]

Pythagorean triples [edit]
In chapter twelve of his Brahmasphutasiddhanta, Brahmagupta finds Pythagorean triples, 12.39. The height of a mountain multiplied by a given multiplier is the distance to a city; it is not erased. When it is divided by the multiplier increased by two it is the leap of one of the two who make the same journey.[9] or in other words, for a given length m and an arbitrary multiplier x, let a = mx and b = m + mx/(x + 2). Then m, a, and b form a Pythagorean triple.[9]

Pell's equation [edit]

Brahmagupta went on to give a recurrence relation for generating solutions to certain instances of Diophantine equations of the second degree such as (called Pell's equation) by

using the Euclidean algorithm. The Euclidean algorithm was known to him as the "pulverizer" since it breaks numbers down into ever smaller pieces.[12] The nature of squares: 18.64. [Put down] twice the square-root of a given square by a multiplier and increased or diminished by an arbitrary [number]. The product of the first [pair], multiplied by the multiplier, with the product of the last [pair], is the last computed. 18.65. The sum of the thunderbolt products is the first. The additive is equal to the product of the additives. The two square-roots, divided by the additive or the subtractive, are the additive rupas.[5] The key to his solution was the identity,[13]

which is a generalization of an identity that was discovered by Diophantus,

Using his identity and the fact that if equations and

and

are solutions to the , respectively,

then

is a solution to

, he

was able to find integral solutions to the Pell's equation through a series of equations of the form . Unfortunately, Brahmagupta was not able to apply his solution

uniformly for all possible values of N, rather he was only able to show that if then has an integral solution for k = 1, 2, or 4, has a solution. The solution of the general Pell's equation would

have to wait for Bhaskara II in c. 1150 CE.[13]

Geometry [edit]
Brahmagupta's formula [edit]

Diagram for reference

Main article: Brahmagupta's formula Brahmagupta's most famous result in geometry is his formula for cyclic quadrilaterals. Given the lengths of the sides of any cyclic quadrilateral, Brahmagupta gave an approximate and an exact formula for the figure's area, 12.21. The approximate area is the product of the halves of the sums of the sides and opposite sides of a triangle and a quadrilateral. The accurate [area] is the square root from the product of the halves of the sums of the sides diminished by [each] side of the quadrilateral.[9] So given the lengths p, q, r and s of a cyclic quadrilateral, the approximate area is while, letting , the exact area is

Although Brahmagupta does not explicitly state that these quadrilaterals are cyclic, it is apparent from his rules that this is the case.[14] Heron's formula is a special case of this formula and it can be derived by setting one of the sides equal to zero.

Triangles [edit]
Brahmagupta dedicated a substantial portion of his work to geometry. One theorem states that the two lengths of a triangle's base when divided by its altitude then follows, 12.22. The base decreased and increased by the difference between the squares of the sides divided by the base; when divided by two they are the true segments. The perpendicular [altitude] is the square-root from the square of a side diminished by the square of its segment.[9] Thus the lengths of the two segments are .

He further gives a theorem on rational triangles. A triangle with rational sides a, b, c and rational area is of the form:

for some rational numbers u, v, and w.[15]

Brahmagupta's theorem [edit]

Main article: Brahmagupta theorem

Brahmagupta's theorem states that AF =FD.

Brahmagupta continues,

12.23. The square-root of the sum of the two products of the sides and opposite sides of a non-unequal quadrilateral is the diagonal. The square of the diagonal is diminished by the square of half the sum of the base and the top; the square-root is the perpendicular [altitudes].[9] So, in a "non-unequal" cyclic quadrilateral (that is, an isosceles trapezoid), the length of each diagonal is .

He continues to give formulas for the lengths and areas of geometric figures, such as the circumradius of an isosceles trapezoid and a scalene quadrilateral, and the lengths of diagonals in a scalene cyclic quadrilateral. This leads up to Brahmagupta's famous theorem, 12.30-31. Imaging two triangles within [a cyclic quadrilateral] with unequal sides, the two diagonals are the two bases. Their two segments are separately the upper and lower segments [formed] at the intersection of the diagonals. The two [lower segments] of the two diagonals are two sides in a triangle; the base [of the quadrilateral is the base of the triangle]. Its perpendicular is the lower portion of the [central] perpendicular; the upper portion of the [central] perpendicular is half of the sum of the [sides] perpendiculars diminished by the lower [portion of the central perpendicular].[9]

Pi [edit]
In verse 40, he gives values of , 12.40. The diameter and the square of the radius [each] multiplied by 3 are [respectively] the practical circumference and the area [of a circle]. The accurate [values] are the square-roots from the squares of those two multiplied by ten.[9] So Brahmagupta uses 3 as a "practical" value of , and value of . as an "accurate"

Measurements and constructions [edit]

In some of the verses before verse 40, Brahmagupta gives constructions of various figures with arbitrary sides. He essentially manipulated right triangles to produce isosceles triangles, scalene triangles, rectangles, isosceles trapezoids, isosceles trapezoids with three equal sides, and a scalene cyclic quadrilateral.

21, 3096, 3159, 3207, 3242, 3263, and 3270, with the radius being 3270.[18]

Interpolation formula [edit]

See main article: Brahmagupta's interpolation formula In 665 Brahmagupta devised and used a special case of the NewtonStirling interpolation formula of the second-order to interpolate new values of the sine function from other values already tabulated.[19] The formula gives an estimate for the value of a function at a valuea + xh of its argument (with h > 0

and 1 x 1) when its value is already known at a h, a and a + h. The formula for the estimate is:

where is the first-order forward-difference operator, i.e.

Astronomy [edit]
It was through the Brahmasphutasiddhanta that the Arabs learned of Indian astronomy.[20] Edward Saxhau stated that "Brahmagupta, it was he who taught Arabs astronomy",[21] The famous Abbasid caliph AlMansur (712775) founded Baghdad, which is situated on the banks of the Tigris, and made it a center of learning. The caliph invited a scholar of Ujjain by the name of Kankah in 770 A.D. Kankah used the Brahmasphutasiddhanta to explain the Hindu system of arithmetic astronomy. Muhammad al-Fazari translated Brahmugupta's work into Arabic upon the request of the caliph. In chapter seven of his Brahmasphutasiddhanta, entitled Lunar Crescent, Brahmagupta rebuts the idea that the Moon is farther from the Earth than the Sun, an idea which is maintained in scriptures. He does this by explaining the illumination of the Moon by the Sun.[22] 7.1. If the moon were above the sun, how would the power of waxing and waning, etc., be produced from calculation of the [longitude of the] moon? the near half [would be] always bright. 7.2. In the same way that the half seen by the sun of a pot

standing in sunlight is bright, and the unseen half dark, so is [the illumination] of the moon [if it is] beneath the sun. 7.3. The brightness is increased in the direction of the sun. At the end of a bright [i.e. waxing] half-month, the near half is bright and the far half dark. Hence, the elevation of the horns [of the crescent can be derived] from calculation. [...][23] He explains that since the Moon is closer to the Earth than the Sun, the degree of the illuminated part of the Moon depends on the relative positions of the Sun and the Moon, and this can be computed from the size of the angle between the two bodies.[22] Some of the important contributions made by Brahmagupta in astronomy are: methods for calculating the position of heavenly bodies over time (ephemerides), their rising and setting, conjunctions, and the calculation of solar and lunar eclipses.[24] Brahmagupta criticized the Puranic view that the Earth was flat or hollow. Instead, he observed that the Earth and heaven were spherical and that the Earth is moving. In 1030, the Muslim astronomer Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni, in his Ta'rikh al-Hind, later translated into Latin as Indica, commented on Brahmagupta's work and wrote that critics argued: "If such were the case, stones would and trees would fall from the earth."[25] According to al-Biruni, Brahmagupta responded to these criticisms with the following argument on gravitation: "On the contrary, if that were the case, the earth would not vie in keeping an even and uniform pace with the minutes of heaven, the pranas of the times. [...] All heavy things are attracted towards the center of the earth. [...] The earth on all its sides is the same; all people on earth stand upright, and all heavy things fall down to the earth by a law of nature, for it is the nature of the earth to attract and to keep things, as it is the nature of water to flow, that of fire to burn, and that of wind to set in motion... The earth is the only low thing, and seeds always return to it, in whatever direction you may throw them away, and never rise upwards from the earth."[26]

About the Earth's gravity he said: "Bodies fall towards the earth as it is in the nature of the earth to attract bodies, just as it is in the nature of water to flow."[27]

See also [edit]

BrahmaguptaFibonacci identity Brahmagupta's formula Brahmagupta theorem Chakravala method

Citations and footnotes [edit]

1. ^ Brahmagupta biography 2. ^ Shashi S. Sharma. Mathematics & Astronomers of Ancient India. Pitambar Publishing. "He was born in bhillamala. In ancient times it was the seat of power of the Gurjars...Jisnu Gupta.." 3. ^ a b c d (Plofker 2007, pp. 418419) The Paitamahasiddhanta also directly inspired another major siddhanta, written by a contemporary of Bhaskara: The Brahmasphutasiddhanta (Corrected Treatise of Brahma) completed by Brahmagupta in 628. This astronomer was born in 598 and apparently worked in Bhillamal (identified with modern Bhinmal in Rajasthan), during the reign (and possibly under the patronage) of King Vyaghramukha. Although we do not know whether Brahmagupta encountered the work of his contemporary Bhaskara, he was certainly aware of the writings of other members of the tradition of the Aryabhatiya, about which he has nothing good to say. This is almost the first trace we possess of the division of Indian astronomer-

mathematicians into rival, sometimes antagonistic "schools." [...] it was in the application of mathematical models to the physical worldin this case, the choices of astronomical parameters and theoriesthat disagreements arose. [...] Such critiques of rival works appear occasionally throughout the first ten astronomical chapters of the Brahmasphutasiddhanta, and its eleventh chapter is entirely devoted to them. But they do not enter into the mathematical chapters that Brahmagupta devotes respectively to ganita (chapter 12) and the pulverizer (chapter 18). This division of mathematical subjects reflects a different twofold classification from Bhaskara's "mathematics of fields" and "mathematics of quantities." Instead, the first is concerned with arithmetic operations beginning with addition, proportion, interest, series, formulas for finding lengths, areas, and volumes in geometrical figures, and various procedures with fractionsin short, diverse rules for computing with known quantities. The second, on the other hand, deals with what Brahmagupta calls "the pulverizer, zero, negatives, positives, unknowns, elimination of the middle term, reduction to one [variable],bhavita [the product of two unknowns], and the nature of squares [second-degree indeterminate equations]" - that is, techniques for operating with unknown quantities. This distinction is more explicitly presented in later works as mathematics of the "manifest" and "unmanifest," respectively: i.e., what we will henceforth call "arithmetic" manipulations of known quantities and "algebraic" manipulation of so-called "seeds" or unknown quantities. The former, of course, may include geometric

problems and other topics not covered by the modern definition of "arithmetic." (Like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta relegates his sine-table to an astronomical chapter where the computations 4. empty |title= (help) 5. ^ (Plofker 2007, p. 424) Brahmagupta does not explicitly state that he is discussing only figures inscribed in circles, but it is implied by these rules for computing their circumradius. 6. ^ (Stillwell 2004, p. 77) 7. ^ (Plofker 2007, p. 427) After the geometry of plane figures, Brahmagupta discusses the computation of volumes and surface areas of solids (or empty spaces dug out of solids). His straight-forward rules for the volumes of a rectangular prism and pyramid are followed by a 8. 7, the four Vedas, and the four sides of the traditional dice used in gambling, for 6, and so on. Thus Brahmagupta enumerates his first six sinevalues as 214, 427, 638, 846, 1051, 1251. (His remaining eighteen sines are 1446, 1635, 1817, 1991, 2156, 2312, 1459, 2594, 2719, 2832, 2933, 3021, 3096, 3159, 3207, 3242, 3263, 3270. The Paitamahasiddhanta, however, specifies an initial sine-value of 225 (although the rest of its sine-table is lost), implying a trigonometric radius of R = 3438 aprox= C(')/2: a tradition followed, as we have seen, by Aryabhata. Nobody knows why Brahmagupta chose instead to normalize these values to R = 3270. 9. ^ Joseph (2000, pp.28586). 10. ^ Brahmagupta, and the influence on Arabia. Retrieved 23 December 2007. 11. ^ Al Biruni, India translated by Edward sachau.

12. ^ a b (Plofker 2007, pp. 419420) Brahmagupta discusses the illumination of the moon by the sun, rebutting an idea maintained in scriptures: namely, that the moon is farther from the earth than the sun is. In fact, as he explains, because the moon is closer the extent of the illuminated portion of the moon depends on the relative positions of the moon and the sun, and can be computed from the size of the angular separation between them. 13. ^ (Plofker 2007, p. 420) 14. ^ Teresi, Dick (2002). Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science. Simon and Schuster. p. 135. ISBN 0-7432-4379-X. 15. ^ Al-Biruni (1030), Ta'rikh al-Hind (Indica) 16. ^ Brahmagupta, Brahmasphutasiddhanta (628) (cf. al-Biruni (1030), Indica) 17. ^ Khoshy, Thomas (2002). Elementary Number Theory with Applications. Academic Press. p. 567. ISBN 0-12-421171-2.

References [edit]

Plofker, Kim (2007). "Mathematics in India". The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook . Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11485-9.

Boyer, Carl B. (1991). A History of Mathematics (Second Edition ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-54397-7.

Cooke, Roger (1997). The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course. Wiley-Interscience. ISBN 0-471-18082-3.

Joseph, George G. (2000). The Crest of the Peacock. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00659-8.

Stillwell, John (2004). Mathematics and its History (Second Edition ed.). Springer Science + Business Media Inc. ISBN 0-387-95336-1.

External links [edit]

Brahmagupta's Biography Brahmagupta's Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta English introduction, Sanskrit text, Sanskrit and Hindi commentaries (PDF

For other people named William Jones, see William Jones (disambiguation).

William Jones

Portrait of William Jones by William Hogarth, 1740 (National Portrait Gallery) Born 1675 Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd, Isle of Anglesey Died 3 July 1749

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William Jones was born the son of Sin Sir (John George Jones) and Elizabeth Rowland in the village of Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd, on the Isle of Anglesey. He attended a local charity school at Llanfechell, where his mathematical talents were spotted by the local landowner who arranged for him to be given a job in London working in a merchant's counting-house. He owed his successful career partly to the patronage of the distinguishedBulkeley family of north Wales, and later to the Earl of Macclesfield. Jones initially served at sea, teaching mathematics on board Navy ships between 1695 and 1702 where he became very interested in navigation and published A New Compendium of the Whole Art of Navigation in 1702[2] dedicated to a benefactor John Harris.[3] In this work he applied mathematics to navigation, studying methods to calculate position at sea. After his voyages were over he became a mathematics teacher in London, both in coffee houses and as a private tutor to the son of the future Earl of Macclesfield and also the future Baron Hardwicke. He also held a number of undemanding posts in government offices with the help of his former pupils. Jones published Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos in 1706, a work which was intended for beginners and which included theorems on differential

calculus and infinite series. This used as an abbreviation for perimeter. His 1711 work Analysis per quantitatum series, fluxiones ac differentias introduced the dot notation for differentiation in calculus.[4] In 1731 he publishedDiscourses of the Natural Philosophy of the Elements. He married twice, firstly the widow of his counting-house employer, whose property he inherited on her death, and secondly, in 1731, Mary, the 22 year old daughter of cabinet-maker George Nix with whom he had two surviving children. His son, also named William Jones born in 1746, was a renowned philologist who first recognised the existence of the Indo-European languagegroup.

References [edit]
1. ^ "Library and Archive catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 1 November 2010. 2. ^ "Jones biography". University of St. Andrews. Retrieved 12 December 2010. 3. ^ William Jones (1702). A New Compendium of the Whole Art of Navigation. Retrieved 2011-02-03. 4. ^ Garland Hampton Cannon (1990). The life and mind Oriental Jones. Retrieved 2011-02-03.

External links [edit]

William Jones and other important Welsh mathematicians William Jones and his Circle: The Man who invented Pi

Giuseppe Peano
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Giuseppe Peano

Born

27 August 1858 Spinetta, Piedmont,Kingdom of Sardinia 20 April 1932 (aged 73) Turin, Italy Italy Italian Mathematics University of Turin,Accademia dei Lincei University of Turin Enrico D'Ovidio

Died

Residence Citizenship Fields Institutions

Alma mater Doctoral advisor Other academic advisors

Francesco Fa di Bruno

Known for

Peano axioms Peano existence theorem Formulario mathematico Latino Sine Flexione Euclid, Angelo Genocchi,Gottlob Frege Bertrand Russell,Giovanni Vailati Knight of the Order of Saints Maurizio and Lazzaro Knight of the Crown of Italy Commendatore of the Crown of Italy Correspondent of theAccademia dei Lincei

Influences

Influenced

Notable awards

Giuseppe Peano (Italian: [duzppe peano]; 27 August 1858 20 April 1932) was anItalian mathematician, whose work was of philosophical value. The author of over 200 books and papers, he was a founder of mathematical logic and set theory, to which he contributed much notation. The standard axiomatization of the natural numbers is named the Peano axioms in his honor. As part of this effort, he made key contributions to the modern rigorous and systematic treatment of the method of mathematical induction. He spent most of his career teaching mathematics at the University of Turin.

Contents
[hide]

1 Biography 2 Milestones and honors received 3 See also 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 External links

Biography [edit]

Peano was born and raised on a farm at Spinetta, a hamlet now belonging to Cuneo,Piedmont, Italy. He attended the Liceo classico Cavour in Turin, and enrolled at theUniversity of Turin in 1876, graduating in 1880 with high In 1890 Peano founded the journal Rivista di Matematica, which published its first issue in January 1891.[3] In 1891 Peano started the Formulario Project. It was to be an "Encyclopedia of Mathematics", containing all known formulae and theorems of mathematical science using a standard notation invented by Peano. In 1897, the first International Congress of Mathematicians was held in Zrich. Peano was a key participant, presenting a paper on mathematical logic. He also started to become increasingly occupied with Formulario to the detriment of his other work. In 1898 he presented a note to the Academy about binary numeration and its ability to be used to represent the sounds of languages. He also became so frustrated with publishing delays (due to his demand that formulae be printed on one line) that he purchased a printing press.

He [Peano] was a man I greatly admired from the moment I met him for the first time in 1900 at a Congress of Philosophy, which he dominated by the exactness of his mind.

Bertrand Russell, 1932, [4]

Paris was the venue for the Second International Congress of Mathematicians in 1900. The conference was preceded by the First International Conference of Philosophywhere Peano was a member of the patronage committee. He presented a paper which posed the question of correctly formed definitions in mathematics, i.e. "how do you define a definition?". This became one of Peano's main philosophical interests for the rest of his life. At the conference Peano met Bertrand Russell and gave him a copy ofFormulario. Russell was so struck by Peano's innovative logical symbols that he left the conference and returned home to study Peano's text. Peano's students Mario Pieri and Alessandro Padoa had papers presented at the philosophy congress also. For the mathematical congress, Peano did not speak, but Padoa's memorable presentation has been frequently recalled. A resolution calling for the formation of an "international auxiliary language" to facilitate the spread of mathematical (and commercial) ideas, was proposed; Peano fully supported it. By 1901, Peano was at the peak of his mathematical career. He had made advances in the areas of analysis, foundations and logic, made many contributions to the teaching of calculus and also contributed to the fields

of differential equations and vector analysis. Peano played a key role in the axiomatization of mathematics and was a leading pioneer in the development of mathematical logic. Peano had by this stage become heavily involved with the Formulario project and his teaching began to suffer. In fact, he became so determined to teach his new mathematical symbols that the calculus in his course was neglected. As a result he was dismissed from the Royal Military Academy but retained his post at Turin University. In 1903 Peano announced his work on an international auxiliary language called Latino sine flexione ("Latin without inflexion," later called Interlingua, but which should not be confused with the later Interlingua of the IALA). This was an important project for him (along with finding contributors for 'Formulario'). The idea was to use Latin vocabulary, since this was widely known, but simplify the grammar as much as possible and remove all irregular and anomalous forms to make it easier to learn. In one speech, he started speaking in Latin and, as he described each simplification, introduced it into his speech so that by the end he was talking in his new language. The year 1908 was big for Peano. The fifth and final edition of the Formulario project, titled Formulario Mathematico, was published. It contained 4200 formulae and theorems, all completely stated and most of them proved. The book received little attention since much of the content was dated by this time. However, it remains a significant contribution to mathematical literature. The comments and examples were written in Latino sine flexione. Also in 1908, Peano took over the chair of higher analysis at Turin (this appointment was to last for only two years). He was elected the director of Academia pro Interlingua. Having previously created Idiom Neutral, the Academy effectively chose to abandon it in favor of Peano's Latino sine flexione. After his mother died in 1910, Peano divided his time between teaching, working on texts aimed for secondary schooling including a dictionary of mathematics, and developing and promoting his and other auxiliary languages, becoming a revered member of the international auxiliary language movement. He used his membership of the Accademia dei Lincei to present papers written by friends and colleagues who were not members (the Accademia recorded and published all presented papers given in sessions). In 1925 Peano switched Chairs unofficially from Infinitesimal Calculus to Complementary Mathematics, a field which better suited his current style of mathematics. This move became official in 1931. Giuseppe Peano continued teaching at Turin University until the day before he died, when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Milestones and honors received [edit]

1881: Published first paper. 1884: Calcolo Differenziale e Principii di Calcolo Integrale. 1887: Applicazioni Geometriche del Calcolo Infinitesimale.

1889: Appointed Professor First Class at the Royal Military Academy. 1890: Appointed Extraordinary Professor of infinitesimal calculus at the University of Turin. 1891: Made a member of the Academy of Science, Torino. 1893: Lezioni di Analisi Infinitesimale, 2 vols. 1895: Promoted to Ordinary Professor. 1901: Made Knight of the Order of Saints Maurizio and Lazzaro. 1903: Announces Latino sine flexione. 1905: Made Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy. Elected a corresponding member of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, the highest Italian honour for scientists.

1908: Fifth and final edition of the Formulario mathematico. 1917: Made an Officer of the Crown of Italy. 1921: Promoted to Commendatore of the Crown of Italy.

Bibliography [edit]
Peano's writings in English translation

1889. "The principles of arithmetic, presented by a new method" in Jean van Heijenoort, 1967. A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 18791931. Harvard Univ. Press: 8397.

1973. Selected works of Giuseppe Peano. Kennedy, Hubert C., ed. and transl. With a biographical sketch and bibliography. London: Allen & Unwin.

Secondary literature

Gillies, Douglas A., 1982. Frege, Dedekind, and Peano on the foundations of arithmetic. Assen, Netherlands: Van Gorcum.

Ivor Grattan-Guinness, 2000. The Search for Mathematical Roots 18701940. Princeton University Press. Kennedy, Hubert C., 1980. Peano: Life and Works of Giuseppe Peano. Reidel. Biography with complete bibliography (p. 195209).

References [edit]
1. ^ Richard N. Aufmann; Joanne Lockwood (29 January 2010). Intermediate Algebra: An Applied Approach. Cengage Learning. pp. 10.ISBN 978-14390-4690-6. Retrieved 14 August 2011. 2. ^ The man who painted the MTA. Luigi Crosio 1835 - 1916. Schoenstatt webpage

3. ^ Ziwet, Alexander (1891). "A New Italian Mathematical Journal". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 1 (2): 4243. 4. ^ Hubert C. Kennedy (30 May 1980). Peano, life and works of Giuseppe Peano. D. Reidel Pub. Co. p. 169. ISBN 978-90-277-1067-3. Retrieved 14 August 2011.