Everything about Henri Brocard totally explained
Pierre René Jean Baptiste Henri Brocard (
May 12 1845 –
January 16 1922) was a
French meteorologist and
mathematician, in particular a
geometer. His most well-known achievement is the invention and discovery of the properties of the
Brocard points, the
Brocard circle, and the
Brocard triangle, all bearing his name.
Contemporary mathematician Nathan Court wrote that he, along with Émile Lemoine and Joseph Neuberg, was one of the three co-founders of modern
triangle geometry. He is listed as an Emeritus at the
International Academy of Science, was awarded the
Ordre des Palmes Académiques, and was an officer of the
Légion d'honneur.
He spent most of his life studying
meteorology as an officer in the
French Navy, but seems to have made no notable original contributions to the subject.
Biography
Early years
Pierre René Jean Baptiste Henri Brocard was born on
May 12,
1845, in Vignot (a part of
Commercy),
France to Elizabeth Auguste Liouville and Jean Sebastien Brocard. He attended the
Lycée in
Marseilles as a young child, and then the
Lycée in
Strasbourg. After graduating from the Lycée he entered the
Academy in
Strasbourg where he was prepared for the examination for entrance to the prestigious
École Polytechnique in
Paris, to which he was accepted in 1865.
École Polytechnique and military years
Brocard attended the École Polytechnique from 1865 to 1867.
As was the norm at the time, he, after graduation, became a technical
officer in the
French military, which had been reorganized in 1866. He acted as a
meteorologist in the
French navy, and general technician as well. Brocard taught briefly in
Montpellier.
Brocard soon saw active service, as
Napoleon III declared
war upon
Prussia. Brocard was one of the 120,000 men under
Marshal MacMahon led to
Metz to free the
French army of the
Rhine. The French army, however, was defeated on
August 31 at the
Battle of Sedan, and was taken prisoner along with approximately 83,000 other combatants.
Middle years
After Brocard was freed, he returned to his military position and continued teaching, publishing his mathematical articles in the most popular mathematical journal of that time,
Nouvelles Correspondances Mathématiques (also called
Nouvelles annales mathématiques). He joined the
Société Mathématique de France in 1873, just a year after its founding. In 1875 he was inducted into the French Association for the Advancement of Scienc] as well as the French Meteorological Society. He was shortly after sent to northern
Africa, where he served as a military technician for the French forces stationed in
Algiers, the seat of French Africa. While in Algiers, Brocard founded the Meteorological Institute of Algiers.
Discovery of Brocard points
During a meeting of the French Association for the Advancement of Science, Brocard presented a self-written article entitled
Etudes d'un nouveau cercle du plan du triangle, his first paper on the
Brocard points, the
Brocard triangle, and the
Brocard circle, all of which today bear his name. Brocard also visited
Oran while in northern Africa, which was occupied by the French in 1831.
Later years
In 1884 Brocard returned to France. He served with the Meteorological Commission in
Montpellier before moving to Genoble and lastly
Bar-le-duc. He honorably retired from the French military in 1910 as a
lieutenant colonel. His remaining two major publications were
Notes de bibliographie des corbes géométriques (1897, 1899, published in two volumes) and the
Courbes géométriques remarkables (1920, posthumous 1967, also published in two volumes)
Courbes géométriques remarkables was written in collaboration with
Lemoyne.
Brocard attended the
International Congress of Mathematicians at
Zurich in 1897,
Paris in 1900,
Heidelberg in 1904,
Rome in 1908,
Cambridge, England in 1912, and
Strasbourg in 1920.
Brocard spent the last several years of his life in
Bar-le-Duc. He was offered the presidency of Bar-le-Duc's
Letters, Sciences, and Arts Society, of which he'd been a longtime member and correspondent for several foreign academies of, but declined. He died on
January 16 1922 while on a trip to
Kensington,
London,
England.
Contributions
Brocard triangle, Brocard circle, and Brocard points
Brocard's most well-known contributions to mathematics are the
Brocard points, the
Brocard circle, and the
Brocard triangle. The positive Brocard point (sometimes known as the first Brocard point) of a
Euclidean plane
triangle is the interior
point of the triangle for which the three angles formed by two of the vertices and the point are equal. Their common value is the Brocard angle the triangle. The Brocard circle of the triangle is a
circle having a
diameter of the
line segment between the
circumcenter and
symmedian. It contains the
Brocard points. The Brocard triangle of a
triangle is a triangle formed by the
intersection of
line from a vertex to its corresponding
Brocard point and a line from another vertex to its corresponding Brocard point and the other two points constructed using different combinations of vertices and Brocard points. The Brocard triangle is inscribed in the
Brocard circle.
Other mathematical contributions
Brocard published various other papers on
mathematics during his time at
Bar-le-duc, none of which became as well-known as
Etudes d'un nouveau cercle du plan du triangle. One other achievement of his is guessing at the meaning of the cryptic title of one of
Girard Desargues' papers,
DALG. In his paper
Analyse d'autographes et autres écrits de Girard Desargues, he surmised that it stood for
Des Argues, Lyonnais, Géometre, which is the generally accepted title.
Meteorology
Though Brocard made no major notable original discoveries in
meteorology, he founded the Meteorological Institute in
Algiers and served as a meteorological technician during his time in the French military. He also published several notable papers on meteorology.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Henri Brocard'.
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