François VièteFrançois Viète, Seigneur de la Bigotière (Franciscus Vieta; 1540 – 23 February 1603), commonly known by his mononym, Vieta, was a French mathematician whose work on new algebra was an important step towards modern algebra, due to his innovative use of letters as parameters in equations. He was a lawyer by trade, and served as a privy councillor to both Henry III and Henry IV of France. Viète was born at Fontenay-le-Comte in present-day Vendée. His grandfather was a merchant from La Rochelle.
Pierre de FermatPierre de Fermat (pjɛʁ də fɛʁma; between 31 October and 6 December 1607 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his discovery of an original method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, which is analogous to that of differential calculus, then unknown, and his research into number theory.
Christiaan HuygensChristiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, (ˈhaɪɡənz , USˈhɔɪɡənz , ˈkrɪstijaːn ˈɦœyɣə(n)s; also spelled Huyghens; Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. In physics, Huygens made seminal contributions to optics and mechanics, while as an astronomer he studied the rings of Saturn and discovered its largest moon, Titan.
Analytic geometryIn mathematics, analytic geometry, also known as coordinate geometry or Cartesian geometry, is the study of geometry using a coordinate system. This contrasts with synthetic geometry. Analytic geometry is used in physics and engineering, and also in aviation, rocketry, space science, and spaceflight. It is the foundation of most modern fields of geometry, including algebraic, differential, discrete and computational geometry. Usually the Cartesian coordinate system is applied to manipulate equations for planes, straight lines, and circles, often in two and sometimes three dimensions.
