Jean-Charles de la Faille
Jean-Charles de la Faille , also Jan-Karel della Faille, (born March 1, 1597 Antwerp , † November 4, 1652 in Barcelona ) was a Belgian mathematician and Jesuit .
De la Faille came from a noble family of merchants in Antwerp. He attended the Jesuit school in Antwerp and joined the order in September 1613. After two years at the Jesuit College in Mechelen , he studied at the Jesuit College in Antwerp with Grégoire de Saint-Vincent and François d'Aguilon, among others . In 1620 he continued his studies in France in Dole , where he also began to teach mathematics. From 1626 to 1628 he taught at the Jesuit College in Leuven and in 1629 went to Spain, where he was a professor at the Royal College in Madrid, where he taught mathematics and military technology (including fortifications). At the same time he advised the Spanish King Philip IV and the government on these issues and gave private lessons for Spanish nobles and the royal pages. In 1638 Philip IV made him the chief cosmographer of the Consejo de Indias . From 1641 to 1644 he advised the Duke of Alba on the construction of fortifications on the border with Portugal, which had declared its independence. In 1644 he became a teacher and soon afterwards adviser to the illegitimate son of Philip IV. Juan José de Austria . De la Faille accompanied him on his military campaigns in Naples and against an uprising in Catalonia. He took part in the siege of Barcelona in 1652. De la Faille died there a month after conquering the city.
In his most famous mathematical work of 1632 he dealt with area and center of gravity determination following Archimedes and Luca Valerio . He specifically determined the focal points of segments of circles, regular figures inscribed in circles and ellipses.
He was friends with the engineer and cartographer Michael Florent van Langren and supported his proposed solution to the length determination problem using moon phases, with which he hoped to win a prize awarded by Spain, but this did not materialize.
Anton van Dyck portrayed de la Faille at the request of his family. The picture is in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels.
Fonts
- Theses mechanicae 1625
- Theoremata de centro gravitatis partium circuli et ellipsis, 1632
Web links
- John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : Jean-Charles de la Faille. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Faille, Jean-Charles de la |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Faille, Jan-Karel de la |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 1, 1597 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Antwerp |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 4, 1652 |
| Place of death | Barcelona |