Person: Mylon, Claude

Claude Mylon was a French mathematician important because of his correspondence with the leading mathematicians of the day.

Mylon is important in the history of mathematics, not for his own achievements, but for his role in the Académie Parisienne, the group of scholars which was a continuation of the group formed in Paris by Mersenne, which was to form the foundation on which the Paris Academy of Sciences was formed.
Mylon joined Mersenne's mathematical circle in around 1645 when he began to take careful notes of mathematical discussions in the group.
Mylon took on the role of secretary of the academy.
After the death of Le Pailleur in 1654, Mylon had access to all the correspondence between members of the Académie Parisienne and the numerous scientist with whom they had corresponded.
At this stage Mylon carried on the important task of making the discoveries of mathematicians available to other mathematicians.
Mylon also corresponded with van Schooten about the problems on games of chance, in particular the dice and points problems, that Fermat and Pascal were considering.
Mylon maintained contact with Pascal after he gave up his mathematical studies and corresponded with Roberval.
Mylon's attempts to contribute to mathematics were much less successful than he was as a communicator of the results of others.

Born 1618, Paris, France. Died 1660, Paris, France.

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Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0!

O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive