Francesco Faà di Bruno
Blessed Francesco Faà di Bruno | |
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Roman Catholic Church (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Turin) | |
Beatified | 25 September 1988, Vatican City, by Pope John Paul II |
Major shrine | Church of Our Lady of Suffrage Turin, Italy |
Feast | 27 March |
Francesco Faà di Bruno | |
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Italian | |
Alma mater | University of Paris |
Known for |
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Scientific career | |
Institutions | Augustin Louis Cauchy |
Notable students |
Francesco Faà di Bruno (7 March 1825 – 25 March 1888) was an
Life
Early life
Faà di Bruno was born in
As a young man, he entered the Royal Army and held, at one time, the rank of
On his return to Turin, he took up the position of Professor of Mathematics at the local university. In recognition of his achievements as a mathematician, the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on him by the Universities of Paris and Turin.[3]
Social reformer
While carrying out his career responsibilities, Faà di Bruno also became actively involved in the social outreach to the poor being developed by leading figures of the Catholic Church in Turin. He became a close friend of John Bosco,[4] and helped establish refuges for the elderly and the poor. He oversaw the construction of a church in Turin, Our Lady of Suffrage.[5]
Priest and founder
Somewhat late in his life, Faà di Bruno came to feel that pursuing
Faà di Bruno appealed to
Faà di Bruno died in Turin on 25 March 1888.
Veneration
The cause for the
In an address to the Minim Sisters in 2002, Pope John Paul II said, ""Francesco Faà di Bruno", I said, is "a giant of faith and charity", for his message of light and love, "far from being exhausted, seems timelier than ever, urging all those who have Gospel values at heart to action"" (Homily, 25 September, n. 4; ORE, 24 October 1988, p. 15).[5]
Research in mathematics
In addition to some ascetical writings, the composition of some sacred melodies, and the invention of some scientific apparatus, Faà di Bruno made numerous and important contributions to mathematics. Today, he is best known for Faà di Bruno's formula on derivatives of composite functions although it is now certain Louis François Antoine Arbogast had priority for its discovery and use. Faà di Bruno should be credited only for the formula's determinant form.[7] However, his work is mainly related to elimination theory and to the theory of elliptic functions.[8]
He was the author of about 40 original articles published in the "Journal de Mathématiques" (edited by
Among his students were the noted mathematicians Corrado Segre and Giuseppe Peano.
See also
- Elimination theory
- Elliptic functions
- Faà di Bruno, for other members of the family
- Faà di Bruno's formula
- List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
Notes
- ^ a b See the Vatican News Service, "Papal Office for Liturgical Celebrations" (in Italian).
- ^ See Solari (2008, pp. 44–47).
- ^ a b (Linehan 1909).
- ^ See Patrizia Solari (2007, 2008)
- ^ a b Pope John Paul II, Message to the Institute of the Minim Sisters of Our Lady of Suffrage, September 2, 2002
- ^ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 76.
- ^ See the paper of Craik (2005, pp. 233–234): this well written and informative paper details also the works of other earlier scientists.
- ^ See Tricomi (1962) and various papers in the volume edited by Giacardi (2005): particularly the later reference states that he introduced the Faà di Bruno's formula to deal with problems in elimination theory.
References
Biographical and general references
- Brigaglia, Aldo (2004), "L'Opera Matematica", in Giacardi, Livia (ed.), Francesco Faà di Bruno. Ricerca scientifica insegnamento e divulgazione [Francesco Faà di Bruno. Scientific research teaching and popularization], Studi e fonti per la storia dell'Università di Torino (in Italian), vol. XII, Torino: Deputazione Subalpina di Storia Patria, pp. 111–171. "The mathematical work" is an essay on mathematical activity, describing both his research and teaching, of Francesco Faà di Bruno.
- Giacardi, Livia, ed. (2004), Francesco Faà di Bruno. Ricerca scientifica insegnamento e divulgazione [Francesco Faà di Bruno. Scientific research teaching and popularization], Studi e fonti per la storia dell'Università di Torino (in Italian), vol. XII, Torino: Deputazione Subalpina di Storia Patria, p. 671. This is a collection of essays, including original documents, related to Francesco Faà di Bruno's scientific work, including his teaching and engineeringactivity.
- Giacardi, Livia, ed. (2005), L'opera matematica di Francesco Faà di Bruno in Cd-Rom [The Mathematical Works of Francesco Faà di Bruno in Cd-Rom], Collana CD-ROM del Dipartimento di Matematica dell'Università di Torino (in Italian, English, and French), Dipartimento di Matematica dell'Università di Torino, archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Faà di Bruno's "Opera omnia".
- Linehan, P. (1909), "Francesco Faa di Bruno", Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 5, New York: Robert Appleton Company, retrieved February 2, 2011. The original article in the Catholic Encyclopedia whose content was originally included in this entry.
- Solari, Patrizia (July 2007), "Beato Francesco Faà di Bruno" [Blessed Francesco Faà di Bruno] (PDF), Caritas Insieme (in Italian), XXV (2): 40–44. This reference and the following one (part two) deal with aspects of the biography of Faà di Bruno other than his scientific achievements.
- Solari, Patrizia (April 2008), "Beato Francesco Faà di Bruno. Seconda parte." [Blessed Francesco Faà di Bruno. Part two.] (PDF), Caritas Insieme (in Italian), XXVI (1): 44–47. This is part two of a biographical article about Francesco Faà di Bruno, concerning aspects of his life other than his scientific achievements.
- Zbl 0132.24405, archived from the original on 2011-07-09, retrieved 2011-01-04). Available from the website of the.
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link - Ufficio delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche del Sommo Pontefice (27 June 2002), "Beatificazione 25 settembre 1988: Franciscus Faà Di Bruno", Beati e Santi del Pontificato di Giovanni Paolo II (in Italian), retrieved February 2, 2011. The date of his beatification as listed in the Vaticanwebsite.
Scientific references
- Google books.
- Craik, Alex D.D. (February 2005), "Prehistory of Faà di Bruno's Formula", Zbl 1088.01008.
- Faà di Bruno, F. (1855), "Sullo sviluppo delle funzioni" [On the development of the functions], Google books.
- Faà di Bruno, F. (1857), "Note sur une nouvelle formule de calcul differential" [Note on a new formula of the differential calculus], Google books.
- Faà di Bruno, Francesco (1859), Théorie générale de l'élimination [General theory of elimination] (in French), Paris: Leiber et Faraguet, pp. x+224. Entirely freely available from Google books.
- Faà de Bruno, F. (1876), Théorie des formes binaires [theory of binary forms] (in French), JFM 08.0056.02, archived from the original on 2016-08-09. One of Faà di Bruno's most important works, highly praised by Paul Gordan(see his letter to Faà di Bruno on page V).
- Johnson, Warren P. (March 2002), "The Curious History of Faà di Bruno's Formula" (PDF), Zbl 1024.01010.
External links
- Dell'Aglio, L. (2008), "FAÀ DI BRUNO, Francesco", Enciclopedia Treccani.
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Francesco Faà di Bruno", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Roero, C. S. (May 19, 2005), Francesco Faà di Bruno (29/03/1825 – 27/03/1888) (in Italian), archived from the original on August 14, 2011, retrieved February 2, 2011. A short biographical sketch, available from the website of Torinoscienza.it.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Francesco Faa di Bruno". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.