Thomas Clausen (mathematician)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Clausen was a Danish
mathematician
and astronomer
.
Clausen learned mathematics at home. In 1820, he became a trainee at Munich
Optical Institute; and in 1824, at the Altona
Observatory. He eventually returned to Munich, where he conceived and published his best known works on mathematics. In 1842 Clausen was hired by the staff of the Tartu Observatory
, becoming its director in 1866-1872.
Works by Clausen include studies on the stability of Solar system
, comet
movement, ABC telegraph code
and calculation of 250 decimals of Pi
(later, only 248 were confirmed to be correct). In 1840 he discovered the Von Staudt–Clausen theorem
. In 1854 he factored the sixth Fermat number as 264+1 = 67280421310721 × 274177 .
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
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....
and astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
.
Clausen learned mathematics at home. In 1820, he became a trainee at Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
Optical Institute; and in 1824, at the Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
Observatory. He eventually returned to Munich, where he conceived and published his best known works on mathematics. In 1842 Clausen was hired by the staff of the Tartu Observatory
Tartu Observatory
The Tartu Observatory is the largest astronomical observatory in Estonia. It is located on the Tõravere hill, about 20 km south-west of Tartu in Nõo Parish, Tartu County...
, becoming its director in 1866-1872.
Works by Clausen include studies on the stability of Solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
movement, ABC telegraph code
Telegraph code
A telegraph code is a character encoding used to transmit information through telegraphy machines. The most famous such code is Morse code.-Manual telegraph codes:Morse code can be transmitted and received with very primitive equipment....
and calculation of 250 decimals of Pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
(later, only 248 were confirmed to be correct). In 1840 he discovered the Von Staudt–Clausen theorem
Von Staudt–Clausen theorem
In number theory, the von Staudt–Clausen theorem is a result determining the fractional part of Bernoulli numbers, found independently by and ....
. In 1854 he factored the sixth Fermat number as 264+1 = 67280421310721 × 274177 .