Thomas Jan Stieltjes
| Thomas Joannes Stieltjes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
29 December 1856 Zwolle, Netherlands |
| Died | 31 December 1894 (aged 38) Toulouse, France |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Alma mater | École Normale Supérieure |
| Known for | Riemann–Stieltjes integral |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | TU Delft, University of Leiden |
| Doctoral advisor |
Charles Hermite Jean Gaston Darboux |
Thomas Joannes Stieltjes (Dutch: [ˈstilcəs], 29 December 1856 – 31 December 1894) was a Dutch mathematician. He was a pioneer in the field of moment problems and contributed to the study of continued fractions. The Thomas Stieltjes Institute for Mathematics at Leiden University, dissolved in 2011, was named after him, as is the Riemann–Stieltjes integral.
Stieltjes was born in Zwolle on 29 December 1856. His father (who had the same first names) was a civil engineer and politician. Stieltjes Sr. was responsible for the construction of various harbours around Rotterdam, and also seated in the Dutch parliament. Stieltjes Jr. went to university at the Polytechnical School in Delft in 1873. Instead of attending lectures, he spent his student years reading the works of Gauss and Jacobi — the consequence of this being he failed his examinations. There were 2 further failures (in 1875 and 1876), and his father despaired. His father was friends with H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen (who was the director of Leiden University), and Stieltjes Jr. was able to get a job as an assistant at Leiden Observatory.
Soon afterwards, Stieltjes began a correspondence with Charles Hermite which lasted for the rest of his life. Stieltjes originally wrote to Hermite concerning celestial mechanics, but the subject quickly turned to mathematics and he began to devote his spare time to mathematical research.
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