Francesco Faà di Bruno

Francesco Faà di Bruno

Born March 29, 1825(1825-03-29)
Alessandria
Died March 27, 1888(1888-03-27) (aged 62)
Turin
Nationality Italian
Institutions University of Turin
Doctoral advisor Augustin Louis Cauchy
Notable students Giuseppe Peano, Corrado Segre

Francesco Faà di Bruno (29 March 1825–27 March 1888) was an Italian mathematician and priest, born at Alessandria. He was of noble birth,[1] and held, at one time, the rank of captain-of-staff in the Sardinian Army. He is the eponym of Faà di Bruno's formula. In 1988 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.[2]

Coming to Paris, he resigned his commission, studied under Augustin Cauchy, and Urbain Le Verrier, who shared in the discovery of the planet Neptune, and he became intimate with Abbé Moigno and Charles Hermite. On his return to Turin, he was ordained, but the remainder of his life was spent as Professor of Mathematics at the University. In recognition of his achievements as a mathematician, the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on him by the Universities of Paris and Turin.

Contents

Work

Research in mathematics

In addition to some ascetical writings, the composition of some sacred melodies, and the invention of some scientific apparatus, Faà di Bruno made numerous and important contributions to mathematics. Today, he is best known for Faà di Bruno's formula on derivatives of composite functions, although it is now certain that the priority in its discovery and use is of Louis François Antoine Arbogast: Faà di Bruno should be only credited for the deteminant form of this formula.[3] However, his work is mainly related to elimination theory and to the theory of elliptic functions.[4]

He was the author of about forty original articles published in the "Journal de Mathématiques" (edited by Joseph Liouville), Crelle's Journal, "American Journal of Mathematics" (Johns Hopkins University), "Annali di Tortolini", "Les Mondes", "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences", etc.; the first half of an exhaustive treatise on the theory and applications of elliptic functions which he planned to complete in three volumes; "Théorie générale de l'élimination" (Paris, 1859); "Calcolo degli errori" (Turin, 1867), translated into French under the title of "Traité élémentaire du calcul des erreurs" (Paris, 1869); and most important of all, "Théorie des formes binaires" (Paris, 1876), translated into German (Leipzig, 1881). For a list of the memoirs of Faà di Bruno, see the "Catalogue of Scientific Papers of the Royal Society: (London, 1868, 1877, 1891), t. II, vii, and ix.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Reference (Solari 2008) reads:... dodicesimo e ultimo figlio (sette femmine e cinque maschi) di Luigi, marchese di Bruno, nonché conte di Carentino, signore di Fontanile e patrizio di Alessandria. La madre è la nobildonna Carolina Sappa de’Milanesi. Un’unione felice, una famiglia tra le più benestanti (e tra le più generose per i bisognosi) della nobiltà terriera piemontese. An English translation reads as: ... the twelfth child (seven girls and five boys) of Luigi, marquess of Bruno, count of Carentino, lord of Fontanile and patrizio of Alessandria. His mother is the noblewoman Carolina Sappa de’ Milanesi. A happy union, one of the most whealty (and most generous to the needy persons) of the Piedmontese nobility.
  2. ^ The exact date is reported in the list of persons beatified by Pope John Paul II edited by the Ufficio delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche del Sommo Pontefice (2002) (Papal Office for Lithurgical Celebrations).
  3. ^ See the paper of Craik (2005, pp. 233–234): this well written and informative paper details also the works of other earlier scientists.
  4. ^ See Tricomi (1962) and various papers in the volume edited by Giacardi (2005): particularly in this later reference it is stated that he introduced the Faà di Bruno's formula in order to deal with problems in elimination theory.

Bibliography

References

External links

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.