Augustin-Louis Cauchy |
1789-1857 |
Cauchy was born in Paris in 1789. He was educated mostly by his father and then later at École Centrale du Panthéon. He entered École Polytechnique in 1805.
Cauchy was persuaded by Lagrange and Laplace to give up civil engineering at l'École des Ponts et Chaussées and study pure science. So Cauchy accepted a teaching position at École Polytechnique.
Cauchy wrote many things on pure and applied mathematics. He is thought to have over 789 papers (some as large as 100 pages) and several books. He was sometimes criticized for "overproduction" and "overhasty compostitions".
Infact, in 1835 when the Academy of Science began to publish Comptes Rendus, due to increased printing costs and Cauchy's long papers, a ruling still in place today was implemented, stating that papers must be limited to 4 pages maximum.
Cauchy contributed to mathematics in many fields. These include:
Cauchy was forced to give up his professorship in 1830 due to alcohol problems. He died on May 23, 1857 at the age of 68. He had been trying to cure bronchial trouble with a trip to the country, but caught a fatal fever. His famous last words were quoted to be: "Men pass away, but their deed abide."
Sites About Cauchy |
Description |
| Cauchy Biography from Catholic Encyclopedia | A biography of Cauchy's life. |
| Augustin-Louis Cauchy | From the Mathematician's History Page |