Person: Castigliano, Carlo Alberto

Alberto Castigliano was an Italian mathematician and physicist who may be credited with the discovery of the principle of least work.

After four years in Terni, in Umbria, Castigliano moved north again, this time to become a student at the Polytechnic of Turin.
After graduating from the Polytechnic of Turin, Castigliano was employed by the Northern Italian Railways.
In his dissertation there appears a theorem which is now named after Castigliano.
Castigliano's results contain the principle of least work as a special case and this was to lead to a dispute with Menabrea in which Castigliano came off less well than he had hoped.
Certainly when Menabrea attempted another proof of his principle in 1875 he used Castigliano's results but his only reference to Castigliano was in a footnote.
Castigliano did not find this satisfactory and objected to the lack of recognition given to him by Menabrea.
Cremona chaired a special meeting of the Accademia dei Lincei which was asked to judge whether Menabrea had indeed acted unfairly towards Castigliano.

Born 9 November 1847, Asti, Piemonte (now Italy). Died 25 October 1884, Milan, Italy.

View full biography at MacTutor

Origin Italy

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