Biography:Théodore Olivier
Théodore Olivier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 14, 1793 Lyon, France |
| Died | August 5, 1853 (aged 60) Lyon, France |
| Resting place | Montparnasse Cemetery [ ⚑ ] 48°50′17″N 2°19′37″E / 48.83806°N 2.32694°E |
| Alma mater | École Polytechnique |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Ecole centrale des arts et manufactures |
| Influences | Gaspard Monge |
Théodore Olivier (1793–1853) was a French mathematician.
Life and work
Olivier studied in the Licée Imperial of Lyon where he obtained in 1811 a degree in mathematics with high honours. After this, he went to the École Polytechnique.[1] Olivier looked like Napoleon, but nobody could prove that Olivier was an illegitimate son of the Emperor.[2]
In 1815, he was an adjunct professor in the Artillery School at Metz and, in 1819, he became a full professor. In 1821, at the request of the King of Sweden, Charles XIV John (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte), he went to Sweden to organize the military school of Mariemberg.[3]
Returning to France, Oliver criticized the pedagogical system in the École Polytechnique and in 1829, jointly with Alphonse Lavallée, Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Jean Claude Eugène Péclet, founded the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, where he was professor of geometry and mechanics for the rest of his life.[4] He also was, between 1830 and 1844, a professor at the École Polytechnique and, from 1838, a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers.[5]
Olivier is mainly known for the construction of three-dimensional models of geometry for pedagogical purposes.[4] Most of them were sold to North American institutions such as Union College, the University of Columbia and West Point, where they are preserved.[6]
Olivier also studied the theory of gears, writing an extensive treatise on the subject, and constructing models, preserved in the Musée des Art et Offices in Paris.[7]
Olivier had no children, but he was the uncle of the French explorer Aimé Olivier de Sanderval.
References
Bibliography
- Hervé, J.M. (2007). "Théodore Olivier (1793–1853)". in Marco Ceccarelli (in en). Distinguished Figures in Mechanism and Machine Science. Springer. pp. 294–319. ISBN 978-1-4020-6365-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=UmBnVMA5ri4C.
- Jacomy, Bruno (1995). "Du cabinet au Conservatoire. Les instruments scientifiques du Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers à Paris" (in fr). Journal of the History of Collections 7 (2): 227–233. doi:10.1093/jhc/7.2.227. ISSN 0954-6650. http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/7/2/227.short.
- Nesme, Auguste (1858) (in fr). Notice sur Théodore Olivier. Aimé Vingtrinier. https://books.google.com/books?id=Lubn9QqKqPYC.
External links
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Théodore Olivier", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews, http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Olivier.html.
- Union College Permanent Collection, "Olivier Models".
- Union College, ed. "The Olivier Models". http://muse.union.edu/mathematics/about/olivier-models/.
- Canada Science and Technology Museum, ed. "Theodore Olivier 3D Geometric Models". https://www.flickr.com/photos/60678966@N02/sets/72157626900812486/.
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