GIUSEPPE PEANO: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS, AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2024

Giuseppe Peano (1858-1932) was an Italian mathematician very influential in the development of mathematical logic, a branch has been in charge of applying reasoning to what is known as 'exact science'. It was a step forward for mathematics because it made it possible to determine whether the statements presented are correct or not.

His contribution to this branch of mathematics was more significant in developing an appropriate language. Several mathematical elements were named in his honor, such as the axiom, the theorem or the Peano curve.

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Peano's legacy at the publishing level is incredible. It is estimated that there are more than two hundred works that bear his signature, between books and articles in different scientific publications.

Furthermore, teaching and philosophy were a very important aspect of his professional life. In fact, he served as a professor at the University of Turin until the day he died.

Biography

Early life and personal life

Giuseppe Peano was born on August 27, 1858 in Spinetta thanks to the union between Bartolomeo Peano and Rosa Cavallo. The couple had five children (four men and one woman) counting Giuseppe, although there is very little information about his brothers. Giuseppe was the second child of the marriage, after Michele, who was seven years older.

His first years of life were spent in the province of Cuneo. His training was initially at a school in Spinetta and then he continued his education in Cuneo. Growing up, Peano married Carola Crosia, the daughter of a well-known painter from Italy. The marriage occurred on July 21, 1887.

Due to his proximity to the countryside, Giuseppe created a great affinity for animals. He used to spend his summers helping his parents with the work of the farm where he lived. In addition, his family was closely linked to religion, in fact, his uncle and his brother Bartolomeo were priests. However, at a certain stage of his life Peano moved away from the ideas of Catholicism.

Studies

Peano's parents worked on a farm several miles away from Cuneo. In Turin lived an uncle of the Italian, his mother's brother, dedicated to the priesthood whose name was Michele Cavallo. Giuseppe's uncle quickly noticed that Peano was very talented and displayed a very advanced level for a boy his age.

Cavallo offered the family that Giuseppe would go to Turin to live with him so that he could finish his education. This happened in 1870 when Giuseppe was only 12 years old and in this way he continued his studies in Turin, where he received private classes at the Ferraris Institute, where he also received private classes from his uncle.

University education

Giuseppe finished his secondary education in 1876 and entered the University of Turin. His university career as a student began in October 1876. There he had renowned professors.

In his first year at the university he received classes from the well-known mathematician Enrico D'Ovidio, who specialized in geometry, although he also taught Peano algebra. Giuseppe's classes were from Monday to Saturday.

From an early age he stood out at the University. Almost at the end of his first year of career, he participated in a competition at the Faculty of Sciences and was the only winner among the new entrants to the academic campus. He finally graduated in 1880 in mathematics.

As a teacher

Just graduated, Peano applied to join the team of professors at the University of Turin. He began his teaching path as an assistant to one of his mentors when he was a student, Enrico D'Ovidio.

At that time, Peano was already beginning to publish some of his writings. Its first publication was in 1880 and its production only increased over the years.

For the academic period of 1881-82 Peano was Genocchi's assistant instructor, whom he replaced in the position of professor in charge in 1884. For some time he alternated his role as professor at the University of Turin with teaching at the Military Academy, where he was also a teacher, but only for five years.

Contributions

He was the creator of the Mathematical Magazine, a publication that was born in 1891 to expand the knowledge of logic applied in mathematics. The first edition featured a work by Peano that was 10 pages long. In it he made an essay on all his contributions in relation to mathematical logic.

During his career he stood out for having discovered several errors and also for having designed new tools for the area. In his book, Geometric Application of Infinitesimal Calculus (1887), he presented for the first time the symbols that would be used to this day to mark the union and intersection of sets.

He created, or at least tried, to popularize a new notation of his authorship in his book Mathematical Form. It was basically an initiative that Peano had, but one that failed since it complicated the understanding of many aspects of the area. Despite everything, some scientists tried to follow his ideas.

Many scientists and students of mathematics have considered Peano to be one of the founders of mathematical logic, because he was the one who was in charge of establishing the language of this subarea of ​​science.

It is recognized by the Peano axioms that it refers to various statements that the Italian made define some mathematical elements. In particular, he dealt with aspects based on equality and in total he presented five proposals.

Two of his most important publications were Differential Calculus and Principles of Integral Calculus, which came out in 1884, as well as Lessons from Infinitesimal Analysis, which came out almost ten years later.

He invented the Latin language without declensions, whose construction was based on elements of Latin, French, part of German and also English. It is believed that no one currently practices or masters this interlingua.

Awards and honours

Peano was recognized multiple times for his mathematical work. For example, at the age of 33, he became one more member of the Academic of Sciences and was knighted twice, being recognized by Italian royalty.

As a scientist, one of the greatest honors he could receive was having been elected a member of the Academy of Lynxes in Rome, an institution of which renowned figures in history such as Galileo Galilei were part. Being part of this academy was the greatest honor to which any scientist of the time could aspire.

References

1. Kennedy, Hubert C. Peano: Life And Works Of Giuseppe Peano. Reidel, 1980.
2. Murawski, Roman. Giuseppe Peano: Pioneer And Promoter Of Symbolic Logic. UAM, 1985.
3. Peano, Giuseppe. Formulaire De Mathématiques. 1st ed., Forgotten Books, 2015.
4. Skof, Fulvia. Giuseppe Peano Between Mathematics And Logic. Springer, 2011.
5. Torretti, Roberto. Philosophy Of Geometry From Riemann To Poincaré. D. Reidel Pub. Co., 1978.