Gregorio Fontana (mathematician)
Gregorio Fontana (born December 7, 1735 in Villa di Nogaredo near Rovereto , † August 24, 1803 in Milan ) was an Italian mathematician .
He was first a priest and teacher in the religious houses of Rome , Sinigalia and Bologna . From 1763 he was professor of mathematics at the University of Pavia as the successor to Roger Joseph Boscovich . In 1776 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . He translated various works (including by Leonhard Euler ) from English and German into Italian. After his retirement around 1800 he lived in Milan until his death.
He is considered to be the founder of the polar coordinates . The so-called Fontana numbers are named after him. He was also engaged in astronomy and mechanics and wrote several books, including a. on analysis and its applications in physics (Padua 1793).
In 1795 he was elected to the Royal Society in London. His brother was the physicist Felice Fontana (1730–1805).
Ricerche sopra diversi punti concernenti l'analisi infinitesimale e la sua applicazione alla fisica , 1793
literature
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Fontana, Gregor . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 4th part. Typogr.-literar.-artist publishing house. Establishment (L. C. Zamarski, C. Dittmarsch & Comp.), Vienna 1858, p. 283 ( digitized version ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 82.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fontana, Gregorio |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 7, 1735 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Villa di Nogaredo near Rovereto |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 24, 1803 |
| Place of death | Milan |