While the creation of vector calculus is commonly attributed to W.R. Hamilton, H. Grassmann, J.W. Gibbs and O. Heaviside, it can be argued that the core of the geometrical theory was already present in the works of the Italian mathematician Domenico Chelini (1802-1878), who began to publish his results as early as 1838. Chelini was motivated by the well-known theorems in statics regarding the composition of forces and moments of forces. In 1845 he applied his "theory of projections" to the differential geometry of skew curves and of surfaces, and in 1868 he expressed the main formulae of vector calculus in non-orthogonal Cartesian coordinates. His work was quickly forgotten after his death, and these results had to be rediscovered later.
Il calcolo vettoriale di Domenico Chelini (1802-1878)
CAPARRINI, Sandro
2007
Abstract
While the creation of vector calculus is commonly attributed to W.R. Hamilton, H. Grassmann, J.W. Gibbs and O. Heaviside, it can be argued that the core of the geometrical theory was already present in the works of the Italian mathematician Domenico Chelini (1802-1878), who began to publish his results as early as 1838. Chelini was motivated by the well-known theorems in statics regarding the composition of forces and moments of forces. In 1845 he applied his "theory of projections" to the differential geometry of skew curves and of surfaces, and in 1868 he expressed the main formulae of vector calculus in non-orthogonal Cartesian coordinates. His work was quickly forgotten after his death, and these results had to be rediscovered later.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
