Jacques Ozanam
Encyclopedia
Jacques Ozanam was a French
mathematician
.
, Ain
, France.
He came of a rich family which had renounced the Jewish for the Catholic religion (family legend) . From the same family sprang the better known Frédéric Ozanam
. Though he began the study of theology
to please his father, he was more strongly attracted to mathematics
, which he mastered without the aid of a teacher. At the age of fifteen he produced a mathematical treatise. Upon the death of his father, he gave up theology after four years of study and began, at Lyon
, to give free private instruction in mathematics. Later, as the family property passed entirely to his elder brother, he was reluctantly driven to accept fees for his lessons.
In 1670, he published trigonometric and logarithm
ic tables more accurate than the then existing ones of Ulacq, Pitiscus
, and Briggs
. An act of kindness in lending money to two strangers secured for him the notice of M. d'Aguesseau, father of the chancellor, and an invitation to settle in Paris
. There he enjoyed prosperity and contentment for many years. He married, had a large family, and derived an ample income from teaching mathematics to private pupils, chiefly foreigners.
His mathematical publications were numerous and well received. The manuscript entitled Les six livres de l'Arithmétique de Diophante augmentés et reduits à la spécieuse received the praise of Leibniz
. Récréations, translated later into English and well known today, was published in 1694. He was elected member of the Académie des Sciences in 1701. The death of his wife plunged him into deepest sorrow, and the loss of his foreign pupils through the War of the Spanish Succession
, reduced him to poverty. He died in Paris on April 3, 1718 (frequently 1717 but it's a error datation when print "éloge de Fontenelle").
Ozanam was honoured more abroad than at home. He was devout, charitable, courageous, and of simple faith. As a young man he had overcome a passion for gambling. He was wont to say that it was for the doctors of the Sorbonne
to dispute, for the pope to decide, and for a mathematician to go to heaven in a perpendicular line.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
.
Biography
Jacques Ozanam was born in Sainte-OliveSainte-Olive
Sainte-Olive is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.-Population:-External links:*...
, Ain
Ain
Ain is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation...
, France.
He came of a rich family which had renounced the Jewish for the Catholic religion (family legend) . From the same family sprang the better known Frédéric Ozanam
Frédéric Ozanam
Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam was a French scholar. He founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul...
. Though he began the study of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
to please his father, he was more strongly attracted to mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, which he mastered without the aid of a teacher. At the age of fifteen he produced a mathematical treatise. Upon the death of his father, he gave up theology after four years of study and began, at Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, to give free private instruction in mathematics. Later, as the family property passed entirely to his elder brother, he was reluctantly driven to accept fees for his lessons.
In 1670, he published trigonometric and logarithm
Logarithm
The logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, has to be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because 1000 is 10 to the power 3: More generally, if x = by, then y is the logarithm of x to base b, and is written...
ic tables more accurate than the then existing ones of Ulacq, Pitiscus
Bartholomaeus Pitiscus
Bartholomaeus Pitiscus was a 16th century German trigonometrist, astronomer and theologian who first coined the word Trigonometry....
, and Briggs
Henry Briggs (mathematician)
Henry Briggs was an English mathematician notable for changing the original logarithms invented by John Napier into common logarithms, which are sometimes known as Briggsian logarithms in his honour....
. An act of kindness in lending money to two strangers secured for him the notice of M. d'Aguesseau, father of the chancellor, and an invitation to settle in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. There he enjoyed prosperity and contentment for many years. He married, had a large family, and derived an ample income from teaching mathematics to private pupils, chiefly foreigners.
His mathematical publications were numerous and well received. The manuscript entitled Les six livres de l'Arithmétique de Diophante augmentés et reduits à la spécieuse received the praise of Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
. Récréations, translated later into English and well known today, was published in 1694. He was elected member of the Académie des Sciences in 1701. The death of his wife plunged him into deepest sorrow, and the loss of his foreign pupils through the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
, reduced him to poverty. He died in Paris on April 3, 1718 (frequently 1717 but it's a error datation when print "éloge de Fontenelle").
Ozanam was honoured more abroad than at home. He was devout, charitable, courageous, and of simple faith. As a young man he had overcome a passion for gambling. He was wont to say that it was for the doctors of the Sorbonne
Collège de Sorbonne
The Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne...
to dispute, for the pope to decide, and for a mathematician to go to heaven in a perpendicular line.
Selected works
- Table des sinus, tangentes, et sécantes (1670)
- Methode générale pour tracer des cadrans (1673)
- Geometrie pratique (1684)
- Traité des lignes du premier genre (1687)
- De l'usage du compas (1688)
- Dictionnaire mathématique (1691)
- Cours de mathématiques (Paris, 1693, 5 vols, tr. into English, London, 1712)
- Traité de la fortification" (Paris, 1694)
- Récréations mathématiques et physiques (1694, 2 vols, revised by MontuclaJean-Étienne MontuclaJean-Étienne Montucla was a French mathematician.-Biography:Montucla was born at Lyon.In 1754 he published an anonymous treatise entitled Histoire des récherches sur la quadrature du cercle, and in 1758 the first part of his great work, Histoire des mathématiques, the first history of mathematics...
in 1778, 4 vols) - Nouvelle Trigonométrie (1698)
- Méthode facile pour arpenter (1699)
- Nouveaux Éléments d'Algèbre (1702)
- La Géographie et Cosmographie (1711)
- La Perspective (1711).