Paul Appell | |
---|---|
Born |
Strasbourg, France |
27 September 1855
Died | 24 October 1930 Paris, France |
(aged 75)
Nationality | French |
Fields | Mathematics |
Paul Appell (27 September 1855 in Strasbourg – 24 October 1930 in Paris), also known as Paul Émile Appel, was a French mathematician and Rector of the University of Paris. The concept of Appell polynomials is named after him, as is rue Paul Appell in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and the minor planet 988 Appella.
Paul Appell entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1873. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1892.
In 1895, he became a Professor at the École Centrale Paris. Between 1903 and 1920 he was Dean of the Faculty of Science of the University of Paris, then Rector of the University of Paris from 1920 to 1925.
Appell was the President of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society, from 1919-1921.
His daughter Marguerite Appell (1883–1969), who married the mathematician Émile Borel, is known as a novelist under her pen-name Camille Marbo.
He worked first on projective geometry in the line of Chasles, then on algebraic functions, differential equations, and complex analysis. Appell was the editor of the collected works of Henri Poincaré. Jules Drach was co-editor of the first volume.