Pafnuty Chebyshev worked in mathematics at a period when the field's own foundations were under discussion.
The record lists Pafnuty Chebyshev as Russian mathematician (1821–1894).
Pafnuty Chebyshev was born at Akatovo in 1821. His recorded nationality is Russia. He studied at Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow Imperial University and Saint Petersburg State University.
The nineteenth century made mathematics rigorous: definitions were tightened, foundations questioned, and whole fields created from scratch.
His academic posts were held at Imperial St. Petersburg University.
The recorded fields of work are probability theory, number theory and applied mathematics.
Among his principal contributions are prime number theorem, law of large numbers and Chebyshev linkage. A theorem is permanent in a way no experiment can be, which raises the standard for entry.
The honours record reads: Order of Saint Anna, 1st class, Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st class, Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class and Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky.
That the work was done from Russia matters: mathematical training, institutions and the language of publication have never been evenly distributed.
Pafnuty Chebyshev died in 1894, aged 73. The proofs remain, and a proof does not decay - which is the particular permanence mathematics offers.
Achievements
- Order of Saint Anna, 1st class
- Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st class
- Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class
- Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
- Demidov Prize — 1849
- Notable work: prime number theorem
- Notable work: law of large numbers
- Notable work: Chebyshev linkage
- Notable work: Chebyshev's inequality
- Held posts at Imperial St. Petersburg University
