Editing Frans van Schooten

{{Short description|Dutch mathematician (1615–1660)}}
{{infobox scientist
| name        = Frans van Schooten
| image       = Frans van schooten jr.jpg
| birth_date  = 1615
| birth_place = [[Leiden]], [[Dutch Republic]]
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1660|5|29|1615|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Leiden]], [[Dutch Republic]]
| fields      = [[Mathematics]]
| known_for   = [[Van Schooten's theorem]]
}}

'''Frans van Schooten Jr.''' also rendered as '''Franciscus van Schooten''' (15 May 1615 – 29 May 1660) was a Dutch [[mathematician]] who is most known for popularizing the [[analytic geometry]] of [[René Descartes]]. He translated [[La Géométrie]] in Latin and wrote commentaries and explanations to it.<ref>Van Berkel, K., Van Helden, A., & Palm, L. C. (Eds.). (1999). The history of science in the Netherlands: Survey, themes and reference. Brill: 374</ref> Because most contemporary scientists and mathematicians in Europe knew the invention of [[analytic geometry]] through Van Schooten's edition, with its extensive commentaries by [[Johannes Hudde]], [[Johan de Witt]], and [[Hendrik van Heuraet]], he had a significant influence on the science and mathematics of Europe at the time; especially on the invention of [[calculus]] by [[Gottfried Leibniz]] and [[Isaac Newton]].

==Life==
Van Schooten's father, {{Ill|Frans van Schooten Senior|nl|Frans van Schooten Sr.}} was a professor of mathematics at the [[University of Leiden]], having [[Christiaan Huygens]], [[Johann van Waveren Hudde]], and [[René de Sluze]] as students.<ref>Van Berkel, K., Van Helden, A., & Palm, L. C. (Eds.). (1999). The history of science in the Netherlands: Survey, themes and reference. Brill: 51</ref>

Van Schooten met Descartes in 1632 and read his ''Géométrie'' (an appendix to his ''Discours de la méthode'') while it was still unpublished.<ref>Van Berkel, K., Van Helden, A., & Palm, L. C. (Eds.). (1999). The history of science in the Netherlands: Survey, themes and reference. Brill: 373</ref> Finding it hard to understand, he went to France to study the works of other important mathematicians of his time, such as [[François Viète]] and [[Pierre de Fermat]]. Frans van Schooten returned home to [[Leiden]] in 1643 to assist his father and, two years later, inherited his father's position as professor at Leiden's Engineering School. One of his most important pupils at this time was Huygens.

The pendant marriage portraits of him and his wife Margrieta Wijnants were painted by [[Rembrandt]] and are kept in the [[National Gallery of Art]]:<ref>[https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/11/06/ontdekking-kunsthistoricus-leidse-hoogleraar-wiskunde-en-echtgenote-op-portretten-van-rembrandt-a2754090 Discovery of portraits of Leiden professor and his wife] in [[NRC Handelsblad|NRC]], 6 November 2018</ref>
<gallery>
File:Rembrandt 229.jpg|''Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves''
File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 107.jpg|''Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan''
</gallery>

==Work==
[[File:Schooten - Exercitationum mathematicarum libri, 1656-1657 - 4691956.tif|thumb|''Exercitationum mathematicarum libri'', 1656-1657]]
Van Schooten's 1649 Latin translation of and commentary on Descartes' ''Géométrie'' was valuable in that it made the work comprehensible to the broader mathematical community, and thus was responsible for the spread of analytic geometry to the world.

Over the next decade he enlisted the aid of other mathematicians of the time, [[Florimond de Beaune|de Beaune]], [[Johannes Hudde|Hudde]], [[Hendrik van Heuraet|Heuraet]], [[Johan de Witt|de Witt]] and expanded the commentaries to two volumes, published in 1659 and 1661. This edition and its extensive commentaries was far more influential than the 1649 edition. It was this edition that [[Gottfried Leibniz]] and [[Isaac Newton]] knew.

Van Schooten was one of the first to suggest, in exercises published in 1657, that these ideas be extended to three-dimensional space. Van Schooten's efforts also made Leiden the centre of the mathematical community for a short period in the middle of the seventeenth century.

In elementary geometry [[Van Schooten's theorem]] is named after him.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/17thCentury/RouseBall/RB_Math17C.html#Van%20Schooten Some Contemporaries of Descartes, Fermat, Pascal and Huygens: Van Schooten], based on W. W. Rouse Ball's ''A Short Account of the History of Mathematics'' (4th edition, 1908)

==External links==
*[http://www.fransvanschooten.nl  Mathematische Oeffeningen van Frans van Schooten] {{in lang|nl}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110724150437/http://bwnw.cwi-incubator.nl/cgi-bin/uncgi/toon?nr=42&ftnr=1 Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederlandse Wiskundigen: Frans van Schooten] {{in lang|nl}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070715021800/http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=268&bodyId=153 Frans van Schooten, and his Ruler Constructions] at Convergence
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Schooten}}
*[http://math-info.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/museum/dbook_site/SchootenOnWeb1/Schooten1/index.html An e-textbook developed from Frans van Schooten 1646] by [http://math-info.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/software/dbook/dbook_eng/index.html dbook]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schooten, Frans van}}
[[Category:1615 births]]
[[Category:1660 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch mathematicians]]
[[Category:Leiden University alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Leiden University]]