Adrien-Marie Legendre
French mathematician (1752–1833)
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Key Takeaways
- Adrien-Marie Legendre ( ; French: [adʁiɛ̃ maʁi ləʒɑ̃dʁ] ; 18 September 1752 – 9 January 1833) was a French mathematician who made numerous contributions to mathematics.
- He is also known for his contributions to the method of least squares, and was the first to officially publish on it, though Carl Friedrich Gauss had discovered it before him.
- He received his education at the Collège Mazarin in Paris, and defended his thesis in physics and mathematics in 1770.
- At the same time, he was associated with the Bureau des Longitudes.
- This treatise also brought him to the attention of Lagrange.
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Source summary
WikipediaAdrien-Marie Legendre (; French: [adʁiɛ̃ maʁi ləʒɑ̃dʁ]; 18 September 1752 – 9 January 1833) was a French mathematician who made numerous contributions to mathematics. Well-known and important concepts such as the Legendre polynomials and Legendre transformation are named after him. He is also known for his contributions to the method of least squares, and was the first to officially publish on it, though Carl Friedrich Gauss had discovered it before him.
Adrien-Marie Legendre was born in Paris on 18 September 1752 to a wealthy family. He received his education at the Collège Mazarin in Paris, and defended his thesis in physics and mathematics in 1770. He taught at the École Militaire in Paris from 1775 to 1780 and at the École Normale from 1795. At the same time, he was associated with the Bureau des Longitudes. In 1782, the Berlin Academy awarded Legendre a prize for his treatise on projectiles in resistant media. This treatise also brought him to the attention of Lagrange.
The Académie des sciences made Legendre an adjoint member in 1783 and an associate in 1785. In 1789, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
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