4-4-7. H. Poincaré à Joseph Bertrand
Nancy, le 24 Avril 1886
Monsieur le Secrétaire Perpétuel,
J’ai l’honneur de vous adresser ci-joint une note en réponse à une récente réclamation de priorité de M. Mathiessen.11endnote: 1 An extract of Ludwig Matthiessen’s letter to Hermite was communicated to the Paris Academy of Sciences on 12 April (Matthiessen, 1886). Ludwig Matthiessen (1830–1906) wrote his thesis on figures of equilibrium in Kiel, and from 1874 was professor of physics at the University of Rostock. He was inducted to the Leopoldina Academy in 1885. Je vous prie de vouloir bien, si vous le jugez convenable, la communiquer à l’Académie dans sa prochaine séance.22endnote: 2 Poincaré’s note was duly communicated to the Paris Academy of Sciences on 27 April, 1886. Matthiessen (1886) contested Poincaré’s attribution (1885a; 1885b) to W. Thomson and P.-G. Tait of the discovery of annular figures of equilibrium. In response to Matthiessen’s claim, Poincaré (1886, reed. Lévy 1952, 37) acknowledged the oversight, while affirming that Matthiessen’s proof was inferior both to that of Kovalevskaya and to his own approach. Matthiessen’s letter to Hermite further suggested that several of his own publications dealt with Poincaré’s piriform figure (Poincaré, 1885c), including Matthiessen (1871, 1883). In response to this second claim, Poincaré (1886, reed. Lévy 1952) countered that the Rostock physicist had treated only the equilibrium figures known at the time, which obviously did not include the pear. However, Poincaré, in what is likely an indirect response to Liapunov’s letter of 9 October, 1885 (§ 3-32-1), found the occasion to acknowledge that Liapunov had “preceded him on some points”. Fifteen years later, when the significance of the Poincaré pear in the genesis of binary stars had become clear (Walter, 2023), Poincaré reiterated and summarized his response to Matthiessen’s 1886 priority claim for the discovery of the piriform figure of equilibrium (Poincaré 1921, 111, reed. Lévy 1952, 8).
Veuillez agréer, Monsieur le Secrétaire Perpétuel, l’assurance de mon profond respect,
Poincaré
ALS 2p. Archives de l’Académie des sciences de Paris.
Time-stamp: "28.08.2024 13:36"
Notes
- 1 An extract of Ludwig Matthiessen’s letter to Hermite was communicated to the Paris Academy of Sciences on 12 April (Matthiessen, 1886). Ludwig Matthiessen (1830–1906) wrote his thesis on figures of equilibrium in Kiel, and from 1874 was professor of physics at the University of Rostock. He was inducted to the Leopoldina Academy in 1885.
- 2 Poincaré’s note was duly communicated to the Paris Academy of Sciences on 27 April, 1886. Matthiessen (1886) contested Poincaré’s attribution (1885a; 1885b) to W. Thomson and P.-G. Tait of the discovery of annular figures of equilibrium. In response to Matthiessen’s claim, Poincaré (1886, reed. Lévy 1952, 37) acknowledged the oversight, while affirming that Matthiessen’s proof was inferior both to that of Kovalevskaya and to his own approach. Matthiessen’s letter to Hermite further suggested that several of his own publications dealt with Poincaré’s piriform figure (Poincaré, 1885c), including Matthiessen (1871, 1883). In response to this second claim, Poincaré (1886, reed. Lévy 1952) countered that the Rostock physicist had treated only the equilibrium figures known at the time, which obviously did not include the pear. However, Poincaré, in what is likely an indirect response to Liapunov’s letter of 9 October, 1885 (§ 3-32-1), found the occasion to acknowledge that Liapunov had “preceded him on some points”. Fifteen years later, when the significance of the Poincaré pear in the genesis of binary stars had become clear (Walter, 2023), Poincaré reiterated and summarized his response to Matthiessen’s 1886 priority claim for the discovery of the piriform figure of equilibrium (Poincaré 1921, 111, reed. Lévy 1952, 8).
Références
- Oeuvres d’Henri Poincaré, Volume 7. Gauthier-Villars, Paris. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- Ueber die Gesetze der Bewegung und Abplattung im Gleichgewicht befindlicher homogener Ellipsoide und die Veränderung derselben durch Expansion und Condensation. Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik 16 (4), pp. 290–323. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- Ueber die Gesetze der Bewegung und Formveränderung homogener, freier um ihre Axe rotirender cylindrischer Gleichgewichtsfiguren und die Veränderung derselben durch Expansion und Condensation. Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik 28 (1), pp. 31–45. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- Sur l’équilibre d’une masse fluide en rotation (extrait d’une lettre adressée à M. Hermite). Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences de Paris 102 (15), pp. 857–858. link1 Cited by: endnote 1, endnote 2.
- Sur l’équilibre d’une masse fluide animée d’un mouvement de rotation. Bulletin astronomique 2, pp. 109–118. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- Sur l’équilibre d’une masse fluide animée d’un mouvement de rotation. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences de Paris 100 (6), pp. 346–348. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- Sur l’équilibre d’une masse fluide animée d’un mouvement de rotation. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences de Paris 101 (4), pp. 307–309. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- Sur l’équilibre d’une masse fluide en rotation. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences de Paris 102 (17), pp. 970–972. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- Analyse des travaux scientifiques de Henri Poincaré faite par lui-même. Acta mathematica 38, pp. 1–135. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
- The Poincaré pear and Poincaré-Darwin fission theory in astrophysics, 1885–1901. Philosophia Scientiæ 27 (3), pp. 159–187. link1, link2 Cited by: endnote 2.