"Fermat" redirects here. For other uses, see List of things named after Pierre de Fermat.
Pierre de Fermat
Pierre de Fermat, 17th century painting by unknown author
Born
c. 1607
Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France
Died
(1665-01-12)12 January 1665 (aged 57)
Castres, France
Education
University of Orléans (BCL, 1626)
Known for
Contributions to number theory, analytic geometry, probability theory Folium of Descartes Fermat's principle Fermat's little theorem Fermat's Last Theorem Adequality Fermat's "difference quotient" method[1] (See full list)
Scientific career
Fields
Mathematics and law
Pierre de Fermat (French:[pjɛʁdəfɛʁma]; between 31 October and 6 December 1607[a] – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his discovery of an original method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, which is analogous to that of differential calculus, then unknown, and his research into number theory. He made notable contributions to analytic geometry, probability, and optics. He is best known for his Fermat's principle for light propagation and his Fermat's Last Theorem in number theory, which he described in a note at the margin of a copy of Diophantus' Arithmetica. He was also a lawyer[3] at the Parlement of Toulouse, France.
^Benson, Donald C. (2003). A Smoother Pebble: Mathematical Explorations, Oxford University Press, p. 176.
^Cite error: The named reference birthyear was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^W.E. Burns, The Scientific Revolution: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 2001, p. 101
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PierredeFermat (French: [pjɛʁ də fɛʁma]; between 31 October and 6 December 1607 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for...
Adequality is a technique developed by PierredeFermat in his treatise Methodus ad disquirendam maximam et minimam (a Latin treatise circulated in France...
adaequalitas in Latin, and became the technique of adequality developed by PierredeFermat to find maxima for functions and tangent lines to curves. Although...
named after PierredeFermat, a French amateur mathematician. Fermat–Apollonius circle Fermat–Catalan conjecture Fermat cubic Fermat curve Fermat–Euler theorem...
held in his honor at Princeton in May 2009. Mahoney's biography of PierredeFermat received much critical attention including a scathing review by André...
tennis player Pierre Daru (1767–1829), French soldier, statesman, historian, and poet PierredeFermat, French lawyer and mathematician Pierre Deladonchamps...
numbers) 17 = 12 + 5 (pentagonal numbers). The theorem is named after PierredeFermat, who stated it, in 1638, without proof, promising to write it in a...
opposite points of a circle. The curve was studied as early as 1653 by PierredeFermat, in 1703 by Guido Grandi, and by Isaac Newton. It gets its name from...
of projective geometry at the age of 16. He later corresponded with PierredeFermat on probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern...
known as Fermat's problem; it arises in the construction of minimal Steiner trees, and was originally posed as a problem by PierredeFermat and solved...
the age of 17 to follow a preparatory course in maths at the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat in Toulouse. He then graduated as an engineer from the École Centrale...
French mathematician. Carcavi is known for his correspondence with PierredeFermat, Blaise Pascal, Christiaan Huygens, Galileo Galilei, Marin Mersenne...
square root. In 1640 PierredeFermat stated (without proof) Fermat's little theorem (later proved by Leibniz and Euler). Fermat also investigated the...
System was discovered by René Descartes in 1637 (and independently by PierredeFermat at the same period). The first calculator by Blaise Pascal (Pascaline)...
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