Cours de Mathematiques: Difference between revisions
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}}Etienne Bezout was born in 1730 in Nemours, France, to a family of magistrates.<ref>J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson, “Étienne Bézout," <i>MacTutor History of Mathematics,</i> (University of St Andrews, Scotland, February 2000).[https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Bezout.]</ref> In 1764, he was appointed examiner of the Gardes de la Marine, a position he would hold until his death in 1783.<ref> | }}Etienne Bezout was born in 1730 in Nemours, France, to a family of magistrates.<ref>J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson, “Étienne Bézout," <i>MacTutor History of Mathematics,</i> (University of St Andrews, Scotland, February 2000).[https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Bezout.]</ref> In 1764, he was appointed examiner of the Gardes de la Marine, a position he would hold until his death in 1783.<ref>Monica Blanco Abellán, “The Mathematical Courses of Pedro Padilla and Étienne Bézout: Teaching Calculus in Eighteenth-Century Spain and France,” <i>Science & Education</i> 22, no.4 (2012), 776.</ref> One of his tasks was to write a textbook specifically teaching mathematics, which would later become <i>Cours de Mathematiques, a l'Usage des Gardes du Corps de la Marine.</i><ref>O'Connor and Robertson, "Etienne Bezout."</ref> On the death of Charles-Étienne Camus in 1768, he was appointed examiner of the artillery, leading him to a reduce and adapt the six volumes of <i>Cours</i> into four volumes specifically intended for artillery students, <ref>Abellán, "The Mathematical Courses," 777.</ref> which later became the reference book of candidates for the entrance examination for the Ecole Polytechnique. He is also the author of "Théorie générale des équations algébraiques" published in 1779, dedicated to elimination theory and the symmetric functions of the roots of an algebraic equation.<ref>O'Connor and Robertson, "Etienne Bezout."</ref> In that work he expanded upon what is today known as Bezout’s theorem, which states that “the degree of the eliminand of a system a <i>n</i> algebraic equations in <i>n</i> unknowns, when each of the equations is generic of its degree, is the product of the degrees of the equations.”<ref>Erwan Penchèvre, “Etienne Bézout on elimination theory,” arXiv:1606.03711 (2016), 1.</ref> | ||
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library== | ==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library== | ||
Revision as of 19:33, 22 October 2025
by Etienne Bézout
| Cours de Mathematiques | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
||
| Author | Etienne Bézout | |
| Edition | Precise edition unknown. | |
| Desc. | 8vo | |
Etienne Bezout was born in 1730 in Nemours, France, to a family of magistrates.[1] In 1764, he was appointed examiner of the Gardes de la Marine, a position he would hold until his death in 1783.[2] One of his tasks was to write a textbook specifically teaching mathematics, which would later become Cours de Mathematiques, a l'Usage des Gardes du Corps de la Marine.[3] On the death of Charles-Étienne Camus in 1768, he was appointed examiner of the artillery, leading him to a reduce and adapt the six volumes of Cours into four volumes specifically intended for artillery students, [4] which later became the reference book of candidates for the entrance examination for the Ecole Polytechnique. He is also the author of "Théorie générale des équations algébraiques" published in 1779, dedicated to elimination theory and the symmetric functions of the roots of an algebraic equation.[5] In that work he expanded upon what is today known as Bezout’s theorem, which states that “the degree of the eliminand of a system a n algebraic equations in n unknowns, when each of the equations is generic of its degree, is the product of the degrees of the equations.”[6]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Mathematiques de Bezout. 3d. & 4th. vols. 8vo." and given by Thomas Jefferson to James Ogilvie, the tutor of Jefferson's grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The precise edition owned by Wythe is unknown. The Brown Bibliography[7] lists either the 1775 or 1781-1784 editions. George Wythe's Library[8] on LibraryThing indicates "Precise edition unknown. Several quarto editions were published at Paris. Jefferson's copy was of the 1781 edition." As yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to procure a copy of Cours de Mathematiques.
See also
References
- ↑ J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson, “Étienne Bézout," MacTutor History of Mathematics, (University of St Andrews, Scotland, February 2000).[1]
- ↑ Monica Blanco Abellán, “The Mathematical Courses of Pedro Padilla and Étienne Bézout: Teaching Calculus in Eighteenth-Century Spain and France,” Science & Education 22, no.4 (2012), 776.
- ↑ O'Connor and Robertson, "Etienne Bezout."
- ↑ Abellán, "The Mathematical Courses," 777.
- ↑ O'Connor and Robertson, "Etienne Bezout."
- ↑ Erwan Penchèvre, “Etienne Bézout on elimination theory,” arXiv:1606.03711 (2016), 1.
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012, rev. 2014) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
- ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on January 28, 2015.