Caspar WesselDied 25 Mar 1818 at age 72 (born 8 Jun 1745).Norwegian surveyor and mathematician who demonstrated innovative mathematical skills as a surveyor, mathematically processing the triangulation data and preparing maps. From 1764, he worked for the Royal Danish Academy, which was making a topographical survey of Denmark. In his life career, Caspar advanced his knowledge of algebra, trigonometry and mathematical geometry. On 10 Mar 1797, he presented his only mathematical paper to the Academy, containing the first geometric representation of complex numbers, but it wasn't seen internationally. Jean-Robert Argand, found the method independently, and his publication (1806) was circulated, hence the method is known as an Argand diagram. A complex numbers is shown as a point in a Cartesian plane, with the real portion of the number on the x axis and the imaginary part on the y axis.«[Image: An Argand diagram, known by that name, but priority goes to Wessel.] |
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