Pietro Cataldi
Pietro Antonio Cataldi (15 April 1548, Bologna – 11 February 1626, Bologna) was an Italian mathematician. A citizen of Bologna, he taught mathematics and astronomy and also worked on military problems. His work included the development of continued fractions and a method for their representation. He was one of many mathematicians who attempted to prove Euclid's fifth postulate.
Cataldi discovered the sixth and seventh
eighth Mersenne prime.[1]
Although Cataldi incorrectly claimed that p=23, 29, 31 and 37 all also generate Mersenne primes (and perfect numbers), his text's clear demonstration shows that he had genuinely established primality through p=19.
See also
- Ibn Fallus, who discovered the sixth and seventh perfect numbers more than 300 years earlier, but also included non-perfect numbers in his list
References
- ^ a b Caldwell, Chris. The largest known prime by year.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pietro Cataldi.
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Pietro Cataldi", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Galileo Project
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