Person: Hardy, Claude
Claude Hardy was a French lawyer and amateur mathematician who made Latin translations of some of Euclid's work.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Sébastien Hardy was an educated man who used his skill in languages to made translations from Spanish and Italian.
- We know nothing of Claude's upbringing other than the locations of the homes in which he lived.
- It is possible, of course, that Hardy did translate the work when nine years old but it was only published some six years later.
- The poetry was translated from Latin to French by Hardy and published as a prose work Les Distique Moraux de Michel Verin Ⓣ(The moral disorders of Michel Verin).
- translated into French by Claude Hardy, Parisian, aged eleven years.
- In 1625 we know for certain that Claude Hardy was a practising lawyer in Paris.
- Hardy, in his capacity as a lawyer, worked for the Parliament in Paris from 1625.
- He became involved with a group of mathematicians working in Paris at this time, in particular becoming a friend of Claude Mydorge.
- This was the beginning of a close friendship between Hardy and Descartes during which they exchanged views on all the scientific and philosophical issues of the day.
- Hardy's great skill in languages made him extremely useful to Descartes and to other scholars who often turned to him for help with translations, particularly from Arabic.
- It is believed that "Antoine Vasset" was a pseudonym for Claude Hardy.
- In 1630, under his own name, Hardy published Examen Ⓣ(Examination) and in 1638 he published Refutation.
- In addition to Mydorge and J de Beaugrand, Hardy exposed the fallacy of Yvon's construction ....
- Descartes wrote to Mersenne making sure that others, particularly his friend Hardy, be given details of the controversy.
- An argument followed in which Hardy took Descartes' side, as did Mydorge and Desargues, while Fermat was supported by Roberval and Étienne Pascal.
- The important point to make here is the high value which Descartes placed on Hardy's opinions and support.
- Finally, we know Hardy undertook chemistry experiments with Annibal Barlet, a physician who taught alchemy in Paris, and with Pierre Borel, before he became physician to Louis XIV in 1654.
- After the death of Descartes in 1650, information about Hardy vanishes and we know nothing about the last 25 years of his life.
Born 1598, Le Mans, France. Died 5 April 1678, Paris, France.
View full biography at MacTutor
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
