Alexis Clairaut
Sign in to saveFrench mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (*1713 – †1765)
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Alexis Clairaut was an 18th-century French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist who made important contributions to understanding gravity, planetary motion, and Earth's shape. His work helped advance scientific understanding of the physical world during a key period when math and observation were becoming central to how people explained natural phenomena.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1713
- Died
- 1765
- Works
- 53
Top works
- Elementi di geometria
- Théorie du mouvement des comètes, dans laquelle on a égard-aux altérations que leurs orbites éprouvent par l'action des planètes
- Théorie de la figure de la terre, tirée des principes de lʹhydrostatique
- Élémens d'algébre
- Éléments de géométrie
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Article
Alexis Claude Clairaut (/klɛərˈroʊ/; French: [alɛksi klod klɛʁo]; 13 May 1713 – 17 May 1765) was a French mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He was a prominent Newtonian whose work helped to establish the validity of the principles and results that Sir Isaac Newton had outlined in the Principia of 1687. Clairaut was one of the key figures in the expedition to the Lapland that helped to confirm Newton's deduction of the figure of the Earth. In that context, Clairaut deduced what is now known as Clairaut's theorem. He also tackled the gravitational three-body problem, being the first to obtain a satisfactory result for the apsidal precession of the Moon's orbit. In mathematics he is also credited with Clairaut's theorem on mixed partial derivatives, Clairaut's equation, and Clairaut's relation in differential geometry.
Biography