Contents
Henri Poincaré
Pioneering topology and revealing the unpredictable behaviour now associated with chaos theory.
Celestial mechanics · Analysis Situs
- Born
- 29 April 1854
- Birthplace
- Nancy, France
- Died
- 17 July 1912
More people
Henri Poincaré
Poincaré combined mathematics, physics, engineering and philosophy. His studies of celestial motion exposed limits to long-term prediction, while his work on shapes helped establish modern topology.
Early life
Nancy childhood
Grew up in a family that included his physician father and received an extensive education in science and the humanities.
Engineering route
Studied at the École Polytechnique and École des Mines before completing a mathematics doctorate.
Career
- 1879
Engineer and lecturer
Worked as a mining engineer and began teaching mathematics at Caen.
- 1881
Paris career
Joined the University of Paris, where he taught for the rest of his career.
- 1906
Academy leadership
Served as president of the French Academy of Sciences.
Contributions
Celestial mechanics
His revised prize memoir exposed complex behaviour in gravitational motion.
Analysis Situs
Laid important foundations for the study of shapes through topology.
Science and Hypothesis
Explored the assumptions behind scientific and mathematical knowledge.
Beyond mathematics
Public science
Wrote widely read books about scientific reasoning and discovery.
The Dreyfus affair
Challenged the misuse of mathematical probability in evidence against Alfred Dreyfus.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗University of St Andrews biography ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
