History of Mathematics_Group 3

Biography of 3 Mathematicians

Composed by:
Fitri Aulia (4192411015)
Miftahul Jannah (

Mathematics Education Study Program 2019

Faculty of Mathematics and Science
Universitas Negeri Medan
September 2022

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History of Mathematics_Group 3

Evariste Galois
Place of birth, Family Overview
Évariste Galois was Born: 25 October 1811 in Bourg La
Reine (near Paris), France to father Nicholas Gabriel Galois
and his mother Adelaide Marie Demante. They were both
intellectual individuals and very well educated in philosophy,
classical literature and religion. More so they also shown no
sign of any mathematical ability for themselves as individuals
in the Galois' family. The mother of Évariste Galois served as
Galois' sole school teacher until Évariste Galois was 12 years
of age. Évariste Galois mother as a very intellectual woman
who taught her son Greek, Latin and religion where she used
her own skepticism to teach her son. Galois' father was just as
in important in Évariste Galois’ life he was the man in the
community and in 1815 he was elected mayor of Bourg-la-
Reine.

Countries in which he lived and worked

Evariste Galois has been recognized by many as the father/ some would say the founder of
modern algebra. Although his life time was short lived, the accomplishments that he accrued
were some phenomenal research work and also mathematics and he was able to publish many of
his works. At a very teenage age hood, Galois began to figure out algebraic applications of
infinite groups, more so known as Galois groups, and he laid the foundation for the solvability of
algebraic equations using his phenomenal brain and skill set to rationalize operations and
extraction of roots. Without a shadow of a doubt or beyond doubt that his mathematical work
helped a number of individuals in the transformation of the theory of algebraic equations. Along
with Norwegian mathematician Niels Abel(Artin, Emil (1998), he provided the proof that the
impossibility of solving general quantic equation and polynomial equations of higher degree
could be done, although his life was short lived he was able to terms of a finite number of
rational operations and root extractions. Galois had to endure many misfortunes in his short
lifetime, ranging from his father’s untimely demise to many of his works being ignored,
misplaced and lost by their caretakers. He had also been a radical Republican during the reign of
Louis Philippe in France.

Education
Évariste Galois’ education was poor his lack of poor performance at school caused him twice
to fail the entrance exams to the École Polytechnique, Évariste Galois’ devoured the work of
Legendre and worked had to Lagrange in his spare time. At his the early age of his teenage years
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History of Mathematics_Group 3

of 17, he began make the mathematical fundamental discoveries in the theory of polynomial
equations. Which are now known as what is called polynomial equations constructed from
variables and constants, using only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and
non-negative whole-number exponents, for example x2 - 4x + 7 = 0). Évariste Galois’ gave the
effective proving that there was not and cannot be a general formula for solving quantic
equations (polynomials including a term of x5), Also a gentlemen by the name of Norwegian
Niels Henrik Abel had discovered a few years earlier, using a much different method. Also able
he to prove a more general, and more powerful, idea that there is no general algebraic method for
solving polynomial equations of any degree greater than four.

Specific examples of his or her contributions

Évariste Galois’ most important achievement was the general proof that by looking at
whether or not the “permutation group” of its roots which is more so now known as its Galois
group, had a particular structure. Évariste Galois’ became the very individual to first use the term
“group” he is most known for the in this modern mathematical sense of a group of permutations
which in this mathematical field (foreshadowing the modern field of group theory), and Évariste
Galois’ fertile approach, now known as Galois theory, was created by later mathematicians to
many other fields of mathematics besides the theory of equations.
Évariste Galois’ breakthrough led to definitive proofs in turn others were more so (or rather
disproof’s) later on in the century of what is called the so-called “Three Classical Problems”
problems which were proven to have been first documented or some would say formulated by
Plato and others back in ancient Greece: which then proved that the doubling of the cube and the
trisection of an angle, were both proved to be impossible in 1837, as well as the squaring of the
circle which also proved impossible, in 1882.
Évariste Galois’ is most rememebered for his mathematics paper that he published in April 1829
Évariste Galois’ which was his first mathematics paper published on what he discovered and to
discover further continued fractions in the Annales de mathématiques. On 25 May and 1 June he
submitted articles on the algebraic solution of equations to the Académie des Sciences. Cauchy
was appointed as referee of Galois' paper. Three Classical Problems” problems which were
proven to have been first documented or some would say formulated by Plato and others back in
ancient Greece: which then proved that the doubling of the cube and the trisection of an angle,
were both proved to be impossible in 1837, (Artin, Emil (1998). as well as the squaring of the
circle which also proved impossible, in 1882. Also, becayse he was the very individual to first
use the term “group” he is most known for the in this modern mathematical sense of a group of
permutations which in this mathematical field (foreshadowing the modern field of group theory),
and Évariste Galois’ fertile approach, now known as Galois theory, was created by later
mathematicians to many other fields of mathematics besides the theory of equations.

Place and cause of death, if known

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History of Mathematics_Group 3

Évariste Galois’ was a very quick to anger which causd his quick temper to make him more
political firebrand. Évariste Galois’ was detained or arrested what we call detained today several
times for quick temper political acts, and as a political affiliations and activist he as a staunch
republican during the rule of Louis-Philippe did not cease to distract himself from his
mathematical work(Artin, Emil (1998).. Évariste Galois’ was murdered in a battle against
another in 1832, under a rather shady miscommunication which was unfortunate, Évariste
Galois’ spent the most of his whole previous night preparing his mathematical ideas in a more in
depth letter to his friend Auguste Chevalier, as he was intending that his death was approaching.
Évariste Galois’ Died: 31 May 1832 in Paris, France (Artin, Emil (1998).

Thales
Born: about 624 BC in Miletus, Asia Minor. Died: about 547 BC in Miletus
Thales seems to be the first known Greek philosopher, scientist and mathematician although his
occupation was that of an engineer. However, none of his writing survives so it is difficult to
determine his views or to be certain about his mathematical discoveries. Indeed it is unclear
whether he wrote any works at all and if he did they were certainly lost by the time of Aristotle
who did not have access to any writings of Thales. On the other hand there are claims that he
wrote a book on navigation but these are based on little
evidence.
Proclus, the last major Greek philosopher, who lived around
450 AD, wrote:- Thales first went to Egypt and thence
introduced this study geometry into Greece. He discovered
many propositions himself, and instructed his successors in the
principles underlying many others, his method of attacking
problems had greater generality in some cases and was more in
the nature of simple inspection and observation in other cases.
Heights of pyramids
Thales measured the height of pyramids. He succeeded in
measuring the pyramids by observation of the length of their shadow at the moment when our
shadows are equal to our own height.
This is based on the idea of similar triangles, that at the instant when the length of the shadow of
one object coincides with its height, then the same will be true for all other objects.
Elementary geometry
In many textbooks on the history of mathematics Thales is credited with five theorems of
elementary geometry:-
(i) A circle is bisected by any diameter.

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History of Mathematics_Group 3

(ii) The base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal.

(iii) The angles between two intersecting straight lines are equal.
(iv) Two triangles are congruent if they have two angles and one side equal.
(v) An angle in a semicircle is a right angle.
About 300 years later Euclid was to develop these ideas in his great work The Elements.

References
Artin, Emil (1998), Galois Theory, Dover Publications, Inc., ISBN 0-486-62342-4 –
Reprinting of second revised edition of 1944, The University of Notre Dame Press.
Astruc, Alexandre (1994), Évariste Galois, Grandes Biographies (in French), Flammarion,
ISBN 2-08-066675-4
Bell, E.T. (1937), "Galois", Men of Mathematics 2. Still in print.
Désérable, François-Henri (2015), Évariste (in French), Gallimard, ISBN 9782070147045
Edwards, Harold M. (May 1984), Galois Theory, Graduate Texts in Mathematics 101,
Springer-Verlag, ISBN 0-387-90980-X – This textbook explains Galois Theory with
historical development and includes an English translation of Galois's memoir.
Ehrhardt, Caroline (2011), Évariste Galois, la fabrication d'une icône mathématique, En
temps et lieux (in French), Editions de l'Ecole Pratiques de Hautes Etudes en Sciences
Sociales, ISBN 978-2-7132-2317-4