André Tacquet
Encyclopedia
André Tacquet was a Flemish
mathematician
and Jesuit Priest. His work prepared ground for the eventual discovery of the calculus
.
He was born in Antwerp, and entered the Jesuit Order in 1629. From 1631 to 1635, he studied mathematics
, physics
and logic
at Leuven
. Two of his teachers were Saint-Vincent
and Francois d'Aguilon
.
Tacquet became a brilliant mathematician of international fame and his works were often reprinted and translated (into Italian and English). He helped articulate some of the preliminary concepts necessary for Isaac Newton
and Gottfried Leibniz
to recognize the inverse nature of the quadrature
and the tangent
. He was one of the precursors of the infinitesimal calculus
, developed by John Wallis. His most famous work, which influenced the thinking of Blaise Pascal
and his contemporaries, is Cylindricorum et annularium (1651). In this book Tacquet presented how a moving point could generate a curve
and the theories of area and volume
.
He died in Antwerp.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
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 Jesuit Priest. His work prepared ground for the eventual discovery of the calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
.
He was born in Antwerp, and entered the Jesuit Order in 1629. From 1631 to 1635, he studied 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...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
at Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
. Two of his teachers were Saint-Vincent
Grégoire de Saint-Vincent
Grégoire de Saint-Vincent , a Jesuit, was a mathematician who discovered that the area under a rectangular hyperbola is the same over [a,b] as over [c,d] when a/b = c/d...
and Francois d'Aguilon
François d'Aguilon
François d'Aguilon , was a Belgian Jesuit mathematician, physicist and architect....
.
Tacquet became a brilliant mathematician of international fame and his works were often reprinted and translated (into Italian and English). He helped articulate some of the preliminary concepts necessary for Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
and Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
to recognize the inverse nature of the quadrature
Quadrature
Quadrature may refer to:In signal processing:*Quadrature amplitude modulation , a modulation method of using both an carrier wave and a 'quadrature' carrier wave that is 90° out of phase with the main, or in-phase, carrier...
and the tangent
Tangent
In geometry, the tangent line to a plane curve at a given point is the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. More precisely, a straight line is said to be a tangent of a curve at a point on the curve if the line passes through the point on the curve and has slope where f...
. He was one of the precursors of the infinitesimal calculus
Infinitesimal calculus
Infinitesimal calculus is the part of mathematics concerned with finding slope of curves, areas under curves, minima and maxima, and other geometric and analytic problems. It was independently developed by Gottfried Leibniz and Isaac Newton starting in the 1660s...
, developed by John Wallis. His most famous work, which influenced the thinking of Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
and his contemporaries, is Cylindricorum et annularium (1651). In this book Tacquet presented how a moving point could generate a curve
Curve
In mathematics, a curve is, generally speaking, an object similar to a line but which is not required to be straight...
and the theories of area and volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
.
He died in Antwerp.