| French mathematician, author of the first textbook on mathematical analysis Country: France |
Guillaume François Antoine de L'Hôpital, born in 1661, was the son of affluent parents. He initially pursued a military career but soon abandoned it due to poor eyesight.
L'Hôpital dedicated himself to science, becoming a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences and participating in the scholarly circle of Nicolas Malebranche. He married Marie-Charlotte de Romilley de la Chesnelaye, a fellow mathematician.
In the 1690s, L'Hôpital encountered the new method of calculus developed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Johann Bernoulli introduced him to this concept during a visit to Paris and L'Hôpital's estate in 1692.
L'Hôpital's seminal work, "Analyse des Infiniment Petits" (1696), was the first systematic treatise on mathematical analysis. It consolidated scattered concepts from various publications and introduced L'Hôpital's Rule.
Despite acknowledging the contributions of Leibniz and the Bernoulli brothers, L'Hôpital's work drew controversy when Johann Bernoulli claimed authorship of the entire treatise.
In 1707, L'Hôpital published "Trait Analytique des Sections Coniques," another significant mathematical work.
L'Hôpital solved notable problems, including the brachistochrone (the curve of quickest descent) and the catenary (the curve formed by a chain supporting a weight). These achievements placed him among the prominent mathematicians of his era, alongside Newton, Leibniz, and Jakob Bernoulli.
Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de L'Hôpital, was an influential mathematician who contributed significantly to the development of mathematical analysis. His work laid the foundation for further advancements in calculus and differential equations.