 |
| Galois |
Évariste Galois was born on October 25, 1811, near Paris. He took his first mathematics course when he was 15 and quickly mastered the work of Legendre and Lagrange. At the age of 18, Galois wrote his important research on the theory of equations and submitted it to the French Academy of Sciences for publication. The paper was given to Cauchy for refereeing. Cauchy impressed by the paper, agreed to present it to the academy, but never did. At the age of 19, Galois Prize in Mathematics, given by the French Academy of Sciences. The paper was given to Fourier, who died shortly thereafter. Galois's paper was never seen again.
"Galois at seventeen was making discovering of epochal significance in the theory of equations, discoveries whose consequences are not yet exhausted after more than a century."
E.T. Bell, Men of Mathematics
 |
| Galois stamp |
Galois twice failed his entrance examination to 1'École Polytechnique. He did not know some basic mathematics, and he did mathematics almost entirely in his head, to the annoyance of the examiner. Legend has it that Galois became so enraged at the stupidity of the examiner that he threw an eraser at him.
Galois spent most of the last year and half of his life in prison for revolutionary political offenses. While in prison, he attempted suicide, and prophesied his death in a duel. On may 30, 1832, Galois was shot in a duel and died the next day at the age of 20. The life and death of Galois have long been a source of fascination and speculation for mathematics historians. One article [1] argues that three of the most widely read accounts of Galois's life are highly fictitious.
Among the many concepts introduced by Galois are normal subgroups, isomorphism, simple groups, finite fields, and Galois theory. His work provided a method for disposing of several famous constructability problems, such as trisecting an arbitrary angle and doubling a cube. Galois's entire collected work full only 60 pages.
0 Post a Comment:
Post a Comment