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Henri Poincaré was born.
Henri was born in Nancy, France to a french family. His father was a professor of medicine at the University of Nacy. -
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Early life
Henri attended Lycée for 11 years. He rose to the top of his class and was described as a "monster of mathematics". He would go on to win competitions between top students across France. -
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Henri attends École Polytechnique
He earned the highest marks for the 1873 entrance exam. He constructed his own proof that renowned mathematician Professor Edmond Laguerre would later use in his classes. -
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Henri attends École des Mines
Graduated as a mining engineer -
Doctorate
At 25, Henri obtained his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Paris. His thesis helped introduced new mathematical concepts such as algebroid functions and resonance of eigenvalues. Later that year, he became a lecturer at the University of Caen -
Mathematician to Watch
Submitted a paper by solving a problem using the theory of differential equations. He won the grand prize in mathematics of the Acadamy of Sciences. Henri discovered automorphic functions (called Fuchsian and Kleinian functions). Named Chair in the Faculty of Science in Paris. -
Differential Equations
He had published about 500 papers. He showed how useful information extracted from insoluble differential equations. He invented an asymptotic analysis of solutions. He paved the way for celestial mechanics (the n-body problem). -
N-body problem and Chaos theory
Henri entered and won a competition but there was a noticeable error in calculation. He had to hurry up and fix the issue. "the work was important for its use of topology and as a founding document in chaos theory, for Poincaré showed that in general, the stability of such systems cannot be demonstrated. It is also in this context that he proved his famous recurrence theorem." -
Topology
His use of qualitative methods led to him studying "analysis situs" to the topology. He created many concepts for algebraic topology, including fundamental groups and the basic ideas of homology theory. -
Science and Hypothesis
His views presuppose physics, geometry, and arithmetic. He believed that things were done in sequential order. Arithmetic, geometry, and then physics. He distinguished 4 kinds of hypotheses: 1. Verifiable hypotheses
2. Indifferent (or neutral) hypotheses
3. Natural hypotheses
4. Apparent hypotheses.
Became President of the French Society of Physics. -
Henri Passed
Henri passed at the young age of 58. He died from a blood clot in the brain, which was a complication from surgery.
