Claude Mydorge

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Prodromi catoptricorum et dioptricorum sive Conicorum operis ad abdita radii reflexi et refracti mysteria praevij et facem praeferentis , 1639

Claude Mydorge (* 1585 in Paris ; † July 1647 there ) was a French mathematician.

Mydorge came from a wealthy family and was originally a lawyer. His father Jean Mydorge was a lawyer at the Parliament in Paris and a judge at the Grand Chamber (Grande Chambre). Mydorge was treasurer of the Generalité in Amiens, a high administrative post that gave him time to occupy himself with mathematics. He belonged to the scientific circle around Marin Mersenne .

In 1613 he married the sister of the French ambassador to Constantinople de la Haye.

In 1644 he published a book on conic sections, of which there was also a sequel in manuscript form, but which never appeared. He built on the work of Apollonios von Perge , but also introduced new concepts such as the deformation of a conic section, for example a circle into an ellipse. In 1630 he published a book on entertainment mathematics (Récréations Mathématiques). He left an unpublished manuscript with the collection of over a thousand geometric problems and their solutions.

He also dealt with optics and astronomy. He was a friend of Descartes , for whom he made optical instruments. He determined the latitude of Paris with high accuracy and was a member of a commission that was supposed to assess Jean-Baptiste Morin's proposal to determine the longitude from lunar observations .

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personal data
SURNAME Mydorge, Claude
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH 1585
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH July 1647
Place of death Paris