Pierre de Fermat

Pierre de Fermat
Pierre de Fermat, 17th century painting by unknown author
Bornc. 1607
Died(1665-01-12)12 January 1665
(aged 57)
EducationUniversity of Orléans (BCL, 1626)
Known forContributions to number theory, analytic geometry, probability theory
Folium of Descartes
Fermat's principle
Fermat's little theorem
Fermat's Last Theorem
Adequality
Fermat's "difference quotient" method[1]
(See full list)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics and law

Pierre de Fermat (French: [pjɛʁ fɛʁma]; between 31 October and 6 December 1607[a] – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his discovery of an original method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, which is analogous to that of differential calculus, then unknown, and his research into number theory. He made notable contributions to analytic geometry, probability, and optics. He is best known for his Fermat's principle for light propagation and his Fermat's Last Theorem in number theory, which he described in a note at the margin of a copy of Diophantus' Arithmetica. He was also a lawyer[3] at the Parlement of Toulouse, France.

  1. ^ Benson, Donald C. (2003). A Smoother Pebble: Mathematical Explorations, Oxford University Press, p. 176.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference birthyear was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ W.E. Burns, The Scientific Revolution: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 2001, p. 101


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