Claude Mydorge

Claude Mydorge (* 1585 in Paris, † July 1647 ) was a French mathematician.

Mydorge came from a wealthy family and was originally a lawyer. His father was a lawyer Jean Mydorge the Parliament in Paris and judges of the Grand Chamber ( Chambre Grande ). Mydorge was treasurer of the Generalite in Amiens, a high administrative posts, but gave him time for the study of mathematics. He was a scientist Marin Mersenne circle around.

In 1613 he married the sister of the French ambassador in Constantinople Opel de la Haye.

In 1644 he published a book on conic sections, of which there was also a continuation in manuscript form, but never appeared. He built on the work of Apollonius of Perga, but also introduced new concepts such as the deformation of a conic section, for example a circle into an ellipse. In 1630 he published a book on recreational mathematics ( Récréations Mathématiques ). He left behind an unpublished manuscript with the collection of over a thousand geometrical problems and their solutions.

He also studied optics and astronomy. He was a friend of Descartes, for whom he produced optical instruments. He determined the latitude of Paris with high accuracy and was a member of a commission to assess the proposal of the longitude determination from lunar observations of Jean -Baptiste Morin.