Jacopo Riccati
Jacopo Riccati | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jacopo Francesco Riccati (1676–1754) | |
| Born | 28 May 1676 |
| Died | 15 April 1754 (aged 77) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Alma mater | University of Padua (LL.D., 1696) |
| Known for | Riccati equation |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematician |
| Notable students | Vincenzo Riccati |
| Notes | |
Father of Vincenzo Riccati and Giordano Riccati. | |
Jacopo Francesco Riccati (28 May 1676 – 15 April 1754) was a Venetian mathematician and jurist from Venice. He is best known for having studied the equation that bears his name.
Biography
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Jacopo Riccati was born on May 28, 1676 to a noble family. His mother belonged to the Colonna family, one of the most influential princely families in Renaissance Rome.[1] His father, a nobleman, died when he was still a boy.[2] He was educated first at the Jesuit school for the nobility in Brescia, and in 1693 he entered the University of Padua to study law. He received a doctorate in law (LL.D.) in 1696. Encouraged by Stefano degli Angeli to pursue mathematics, he studied mathematical analysis.[2] By 1710 he was familiar with the ideas of differential and integral calculus. His main work was in the field of differential equations, and he introduced new methods to solve them, such as the methods of separating variables and lowering the order of the equation. He corresponded with several European mathematicians, including Leonhard Euler and Daniel and Nicholas Bernoulli.
Career
[edit]Riccati received various academic offers but declined them in order to devote his full attention to the study of mathematical analysis on his own. In 1696 he married the countess Elisabetta Onigo, and established his residence in Treviso, refusing the invitation by Peter the Great to be the president of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He was also asked to Vienna as an imperial councillor (Consigliere Aulico) and offered a professorship as the University of Padua.[3] He declined all these offers, preferring to stay in Italy and devote himself to his studies privately.[3]
His works, compiled in four volumes, were published in Treviso in 1761. There was a Saggio intorno al Sistema dell'Universo [Essay on the system of the Universe], and three books on the Principi Generali della Fisica [General Principles of Physics]. He was very interested in hydraulics as well, and was often consulted by the Senate of Venice on the construction of canals and dikes along rivers. In addition, he studied economics, history, theology, ethics, metaphysics, and poetry.
Riccati is best known for his widely influential work on solving differential equations. He is best known for his extensive study of the Riccati equation, an equation which was to become of paramount importance in the centuries to come.[2] Some of his work on polynomials was included by Maria Gaetana Agnesi, at Riccati's request, in the book on integral calculus of her Analytical Institutions.[4]
Personal life
[edit]His father, Conte Montino Riccati, came from a noble family who owned land near Venice. His mother was from the powerful Colonna family. His father died in 1686, when Riccati was only ten, leaving the youth a handsome estate.
Riccati and his wife had nine children, three of whom followed in their father's footsteps. Vincenzo Riccati, a Jesuit, pioneered the development of hyperbolic functions. Giordano Riccati was the first to measure the ratio of Young's moduli of metals—preceding the better known Thomas Young by 25 years.[5]
Honors
[edit]Jacopo Riccati was named honorary Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna in 1723.
Works
[edit]- [Opere] (in Italian). Vol. 1. Lucca: Iacopo Giusti. 1761.
- [Opere] (in Italian). Vol. 2. Lucca: Iacopo Giusti. 1762.
- [Opere] (in Italian). Vol. 3. Lucca: Iacopo Giusti. 1764.
- [Opere] (in Italian). Vol. 4. Lucca: Giuseppe Rocchi. 1765.
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ O'Connor & Robertson.
- ^ a b c Bittanti 1991, p. 1.
- ^ a b Natucci 1970, p. 399.
- ^ Agnesi, Maria Gaetana (1801). "The author's preface to the reader". Analytical Institutions. Translated by Colson, John. London: Taylor and Wilks. p. XXIII.
- ^ Truesdell, Clifford A., 1960, The Rational Mechanics of Flexible or Elastic Bodies, 1638-1788: Introduction to Leonhardi Euleri Opera Omnia, vol. X and XI, Seriei Secundae. Orell Fussli.
Bibliography
[edit]- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Jacopo Riccati", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Natucci, A. (1970). "Riccati, Jacopo Francesco". In Charles Coulston Gillispie (ed.). Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 11. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 399–401. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- Bittanti, S. (1991). "Count Riccati and the Early Days of the Riccati Equation". In S. Bittanti; A.J. Laub; J.C. Willems (eds.). The Riccati Equation. Communications and Control Engineering Series. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 1–10. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-58223-3_1.
- Mazzone, Silvia; Roero, Clara Silvia (2002). "Le equazioni differenziali nel Settecento". Storia della Scienza. Vol. VI: L’Età dei Lumi. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. pp. 418–430. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
- Lugaresi, Maria Giulia; Milici, Pietro (2022). "Lettere inedite nella corrispondenza tra Jacopo Riccati e Giovanni Poleni". In G.P. Brizzi; M. Donattini (eds.). Conoscere il passato per progettare il futuro : studi per l’Ottavo Centenario dell’Università di Padova. Bologna: Il Mulino. pp. 113–148.
External links
[edit]
- Agostini, Amedeo; Coletti, Luigi (1936). "RICCATI". Enciclopedia Italiana. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
