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  • Book
  • © 2014

André-Louis Cholesky

Mathematician, Topographer and Army Officer

Birkhäuser
  • The only existing book on the life and the works of Cholesky and contemporaries

  • Reproduction of an unpublished manuscript on graphical calculation

  • English translation of his unpublished paper on the solution of systems of linear equations and further unpublished documents with historical and mathematical commentaries

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Biography of Cholesky

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 1-44
  3. Cholesky’s family

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 45-62
  4. On topography

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 63-76
  5. The method of Cholesky for linear systems

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 77-122
  6. Other works of Cholesky

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 123-138
  7. Léon Eyrolles and his superior school

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 139-151
  8. An unpublished book by Cholesky

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 153-195
  9. Ernest Benoît

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 197-209
  10. Documents

    • Claude Brezinski, Dominique Tournès
    Pages 211-231
  11. Back Matter

    Pages 233-331

About this book

This book traces the life of Cholesky (1875-1918), and gives his family history. After an introduction to topography, an English translation of an unpublished paper by him where he explained his method for linear systems is given, studied and replaced in its historical context. His other works, including two books, are also described as well as his involvement in teaching at a superior school by correspondence. The story of this school and its founder, Léon Eyrolles, are addressed. Then, an important unpublished book of Cholesky on graphical calculation is analyzed in detail and compared to similar contemporary publications. The biography of Ernest Benoit, who wrote the first paper where Cholesky´s method is explained, is provided. Various documents, highlighting the life and the personality of Cholesky, end the book.

Reviews

“The volume represents a valuable contribution to the growing literature on the history of applied and computational mathematics … . the book will be of interest to applied mathematicians with a curiosity about historical matters, and to professional historians of science who specialize in the history of ‘practical mathematics,’ topography, geodesy, and computing methods.” (Michele Benzi, The Mathematical Intelligencer, Vol. 39, 2017) 

“A nicely illustrated book, many photographs appear of Cholesky, often in military uniform, his family, colleagues and contemporaries. The topographical terms and techniques are well described … . Cholesky was very practical and resourceful. … A very stimulating and engaging book, a motivation to further research of the techniques considered.” (Wallace A. Ferguson, Mathematics Today, Vol. 52 (2), April, 2016)

“The book should appreciably widen the exposure of Cholesky’s ‘remarkable personal achievements in topography and mathematics to a much larger international audience.’ The authors succeed very well to reach this aim. … The book is very readable and can be recommended especially to readers with interest in the history of numerical and applied mathematics.” (Karl-Heinz Schlote, zbMATH 1320.01002, 2015)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Laboratoire Paul Painlevé, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France

    Claude Brezinski

  • Laboratoire d'Informatique et de Mathématiques, Université de La Réunion, Sainte Clotilde, France

    Dominique Tournès

About the authors

Claude Brezinski is emeritus professor of numerical analysis at the University of Sciences and Technologies of Lille (Laboratory Paul Painlevé, UMR CNRS 8524), France. His work mainly concerns extrapolation methods, orthogonal polynomials, Padé and rational approximation and numerical linear algebra. He also published several papers and books on the history of sciences.

Dominique Tournès is professor of mathematics and history of mathematics at the University of La Réunion (Laboratory of Mathematics and Computer Science, EA 2525), France and associate researcher at the SPHERE laboratory (UMR 7219, CNRS and University Paris-Diderot, France). His work focuses on the history of calculation methods and instruments since the seventeenth century, particularly regarding differential equations.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access