In the history of mathematics, Jean Gaston Darboux is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists Jean Gaston Darboux as French mathematician (1842–1917).
Jean Gaston Darboux was born at Nîmes in 1842. His recorded nationality is France. He studied at École Normale Supérieure and Lycée Alphonse Daudet.
The nineteenth century made mathematics rigorous: definitions were tightened, foundations questioned, and whole fields created from scratch.
His academic posts were held at University of Paris, Lycée Saint-Louis and Collège de France.
The recorded fields of work are geometry and mathematical analysis.
Among his principal contributions are Darboux's theorem, Darboux's theorem and Darboux frame. Mathematical work is judged by whether anyone can build on it, and that judgement takes decades.
Recognition followed: Poncelet Prize (1875) and Sylvester Medal (1916).
That the work was done from France matters: mathematical training, institutions and the language of publication have never been evenly distributed.
Jean Gaston Darboux died in 1917, aged 75. The proofs remain, and a proof does not decay - which is the particular permanence mathematics offers.
Achievements
- Poncelet Prize — 1875
- Sylvester Medal — 1916
- Notable work: Darboux's theorem
- Notable work: Darboux's theorem
- Notable work: Darboux frame
- Notable work: Darboux cyclide
- Held posts at University of Paris, Lycée Saint-Louis and Collège de France
- Fields: geometry and mathematical analysis
