Alexandre Théophile Vandermonde Biography

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World of Mathematics on Alexandre Théophile Vandermonde

Although Alexandre Théophile Vandermonde's work in mathematics was limited to only two years, he is still remembered for producing such advances as the Vandermonde determinant. Most scientific historians consider Vandermonde to be the founder of the theory of determinants. He also made progress toward solving the classic "knight's tour problem."

Vandermonde was born in Paris, France on February 28, 1735, the son of a physician. Because he was a sickly child, Vandermonde's physician father encouraged the obviously bright boy to study music, which he believed would be less strenuous than other academic pursuits. Vandermonde went along with this plan, since he loved music, for all of his childhood and well into his adult life. However, when he met and became friends with a respected mathematician named Fontaine at age 35, Vandermonde eagerly turned to the study of mathematics.

Thus, in about 1770, Vandermonde discovered a new talent. In fact, he applied himself so intensely to his studies and made such an impression with his work that by 1771 he had been elected to the prestigious Academy of Sciences. It was to this body that he presented four papers--his total contribution to mathematics--in 1771 and 1772.

Vandermonde was reportedly the first mathematician to prepare a systematic treatment of the theory of determinants. The determinant named after him is one in which the elements of each row or column are: 1, r, r^2, ..., r^n-1 of a geometric progression. Ironically, this determinant never appeared in Vandermonde's published work. Another of his papers to the Academy dealt with the knight's tour, a recreational math problem. The object of this puzzle is to come up with a sequence of moves by a knight chess piece on a chessboard (or any other grid) so that the piece lands on each square of the board exactly once.

After 1772, Vandermonde dropped out of the mathematics world as precipitously as he entered it. There are records that he collaborated with Etienne Bezout on experiments with cold in 1776 and on the manufacture of steel with his close friend Gaspard Monge in 1786. However, aside from these involvements, it appears that Vandermonde's real contributions to mathematics took place during a two-year period of his life.

In 1782 Vandermonde became director of a large conservatory and in 1792 he took a top bureaucratic position with the French Army. Also in his later years, Vandermonde returned to his first love, music, writing several influential papers on harmony. He died on January 1, 1796 in Paris.