Marin Mersenne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 8 September 1588 |
| Died | 1 September 1648 (aged 59) Paris, Kingdom of France |
| Other names | Marinus Mersennus |
| Known for | Mersenne primes Mersenne's conjecture Mersenne's laws Acoustics |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics, physics |
Marin Mersenne, OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or le Père Mersenne; French: [maʁɛ̃ mɛʁsɛn]; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for Mersenne prime numbers, those written in the form Mn = 2n − 1 for some integer n. He also developed Mersenne's laws, which describe the harmonics of a vibrating string (such as may be found on guitars and pianos), and his seminal work on music theory, Harmonie universelle, for which he is referred to as the "father of acoustics".[1][2] Mersenne, an ordained Catholic priest, had many contacts in the scientific world and has been called "the center of the world of science and mathematics during the first half of the 1600s"[3] and, because of his ability to make connections between people and ideas, "the post-box of Europe".[4] He was also a member of the ascetical Minim religious order and wrote and lectured on theology and philosophy.
- ^ Bohn, Dennis A. (1988). "Environmental Effects on the Speed of Sound" (PDF). Journal of the Audio Engineering Society. 36 (4): 223–231. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Simmons, George F. (1992/2007). Calculus Gems: Brief Lives and Memorable Mathematics, p. 94. MAA. ISBN 9780883855614.
- ^ Bernstein, Peter L. (1996). Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. John Wiley & Sons. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-471-12104-6.
- ^ Connolly, Mickey; Motroni, Jim; McDonald, Richard (25 October 2016). The Vitality Imperative: How Connected Leaders and Their Teams Achieve More with Less Time, Money, and Stress. RDA Press. ISBN 9781937832926.