Coriolis

Gustave Gaspard de Coriolis

Born: 21 May 1792 in Paris, France
 Died: 19 Sept 1843 in Paris, France

[Mathematiker Bild]

Show birthplace location

Previous (Chronologically) Next Biographies Index
Previous (Alphabetically) Next Welcome page

Coriolis was assistant professor of mathematics at the École Polytechnique, Paris from 1816 to 1838 and studied mechanics and engineering mathematics. He is best remembered for the Coriolis force which appears in the paper Sur les équations du mouvement relatif des systèmes de corps (1835). He showed that the laws of motion could be used in a rotating frame of reference if an extra force called the Coriolis acceleration is added to the equations of motion.

Coriolis also introduced the terms 'work' and 'kinetic energy' with their present scientific meaning. In 1835 Coriolis wrote on a mathematical theory of billiards in Théorie mathématique des effets du jeu de billiard . He also wrote Traité de la mécanique des corps
solides (1844).

References (4 books/articles)

References elsewhere in this archive:

Rue Coriolis is in the 8th Arrondissement in Paris. You can see a list of Paris streets named after mathematicians in our archive.

There is a Crater Coriolis on the moon. You can see a list of lunar features named after mathematicians.

Previous (Chronologically) Next Biographies Index
Previous (Alphabetically) Next Welcome page
History Topics Index Famous curves index
Chronologies Birthplace Maps
Mathematicians of the day Anniversaries for the year
Search Form Simple Search Form Search Suggestions
JOC/EFR December 1996