of heat, and wrote a paper entitled On the Propagation of
Heat in Solid Bodiesin 1807, which he later expanded to
include cooling of infinite solids, terrestrial heat, and radiant
heat. This theory was controversial through his lifetime, yet
ultimately proved important in trigonometry and the theory of
functions of a real VARIABLE.Frobenius, Ferdinand Georg(1849–1917) German mathematician
who made many contributions to the field. He is best known
for his work on abstract algebra and group theory, which is
used today in quantum mechanics, and he is regarded as the
one who started the study of representation theory of groups.
He is highly regarded for his calculations in his work,
particularly singled out for his “algebraic approach.”
Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) The Italian scientist most known for his
controversial views relating to astronomy, Galileo was also a
professional musician, a mathematician, physicist, student of
medicine, and philosopher. Galileo observed and articulated
the idea of inertia, upon which SIR ISAAC NEWTON’s first law
of motion is based, and is credited as the first scientist to use
experimentation to back up his conclusions. He was
mathematics professor at Pisa, where he challenged Aristotle’s
ideas on the speed at which an object falls based on its weight.
After his professorship was not renewed, he became chair of
mathematics at the University of Padua from 1592 to 1610,
where he worked on motion and parabolic paths of projectiles,
and developed a telescope by mathematical computations
based on the stories he had heard of a telescope invented in
Holland that same year. For this impressive invention, he was
named court mathematician and philosopher in Florence. This
work with the telescope was the beginning of his demise, as he
soon observed that the Earth could not possibly be the center
of the universe, despite Aristotle’s teachings. He published his
theories in a book called The Starry Messenger,which he
wrote in Italian rather than Latin so that more people would
have access to it. The Roman Catholic Church banned the
book and ordered him to stop teaching his views, but he
published another book, Dialog Concerning the Two Chief
World Systems,in 1632, attacking the beliefs of both Aristotle
and PTOLEMY. The Inquisition accused him of heresy, and at
Frobenius – Galilei BIOGRAPHIES
Frobenius – Galilei BIOGRAPHIES
Galileo Galilei (Courtesy of
AIP Emilio Segrè Visual
Archives)