Pierre de Fermat

Pierre de Fermat (August 20, 1601 – January 12, 1665) was a French lawyer at the Parlement of Toulouse, southern France, and a mathematician who is given credit for the development of modern calculus. In particular, he is the precursor of differential calculus with his method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, analogous to that of the then unknown differential calculus. Perhaps even more important, his brilliant researches in the theory of numbers entitle him to the rank of the founder of the modern theory. He also made notable contributions to analytic geometry and probability.

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Fermat worked on number theory while preparing an edition of Diophantus, and the notes and comments thereon contained the numerous theorems of considerable elegance necessary to develop the theory of numbers. Fermat is famous for his "Enigma" that was an extension of Pythagorean Theorem, also known as Fermat's last theorem, which baffled mathematicians for more than 300 years, and was only finally proven in 1994. Together with Ren? Descartes, Fermat was one of the two leading mathematicians of the first half of the 17th century. Independently of Descartes, he discovered the fundamental principle of analytic geometry. Through his correspondence with Blaise Pascal, he was a co-founder of the theory of probability.

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Fermat was born at Beaumont-de-Lomagne, 58 kilometers (36 miles) north-west of Toulouse, France. He died at Castres, 79 kilometers (49 miles) east of Toulouse. The oldest and most prestigious high-school in Toulouse is called Pierre de Fermat. This high-school has preparatory classes for engineering and business schools (grandes ?coles), and is ranked in the top 10 of France's best preparatory classes. The late 15th century mansion where Fermat was born in Beaumont-de-Lomagne is now a museum.

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Pierre de Fermat related Images and Photos (experimental)

Pierre De Fermat French Mathematician	Pierre de Suffren-Saint-Tropez	Roses Pierre de Ronsard	Le Pont De Pierre Rouen
Bouquet de Fleurs dans un Vase de Pierre 1677	Charles Varlet in the Role of Dom Juan from Don Juan or Le Festin de Pierre Moliere	Pierre-Jean De Beranger	Pierre Savorgnan De Brazza 1886
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza 1886	Bernardin de Saint-Pierre	Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Italian-Born French Explorer	Pierre-Simon de Laplace French Astronomer and Mathematician