Person: Tannery (2), Jules

Jules Tannery was a French mathematician whose main contributions were to the history and philosophy of mathematics.

Delphin Tannery's job with the railways involved him moving around the country depending on where railways were being constructed.
At Caen Jules proved himself to be a truly outstanding pupil, winning prizes and delighting his parents who were very keen to see their sons achieve great things with their education.
Completing his secondary education in 1866, Tannery sat the entrance examinations in science for both the École Normale Supérieur and the École Polytechnique.
Graduating in 1869 and placed top of among all the graduates in that year, Tannery became a mathematics teacher at the Lycée in Rennes, then in 1871 he moved to teach the Lycée at Caen.
Lucretius's ideas on ethical and logical doctrines caused Tannery to undergo a religious crisis as he found himself drawn towards the philosophy of this pagan writer.
In 1872 Tannery returned to Paris and began teaching at the École Normale Supérieur.
Tannery was an outstanding teacher of mathematics and he taught at a number of different establishments.
Tannery played an important role in the pedagogical reforms in France at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Tannery worked on Galois' notes and letters.
Jules made an eloquent speech of dedication.
It is worth noting that Tannery had been an editor of the Bulletin des Sciences Mathématiques since 1876 and he continued in that role until his death.
Tannery made an impressive contribution to the Bulletin, writing large numbers of reviews.
Jules's philosophy ...

Born 24 March 1848, Mantes-sur-Seine, France. Died 11 December 1910, 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