N.I. Lobachevsky

N.I.Lobachevsky is a great Russian mathematician and the creator of non-Euclidean geometry. He was born on December 1, 1792 in Nizhni Novgorod in poor family. When Lobachevsky was a child, his father died and the family moved to Kazan. There the boy learned at the “gymnasium” from 1802 to 1807 and in 1807 he entered Kazan University. At the University N.I. Lobachevsky spent the next forty years of his life as a student, professor and rector.

Lobachevsky became interested in mathematics when he was still a schoolboy and he remained true to this science all his life long.

Lobachevsky did a lot to make Kazan University a first-rate educational institution of that time. At the same time he made extensive researches into mathematics.

On February 23, 1826 a great event took place at Kazan University. N.I.Lobachevsky presented a paper “A Brief Outline of the Principles of Geometry Demonstrating the Tearoom of Parallel lines”. That day a new geometrical system, the so-called non-Euclidean geometry was born. In the paper he attacked the theory which was the basis of geometry for 2000 years and made a real revolution in mathematics.

In the years that followed Lobachevsky wrote a number of works in the field of algebra and mathematical analysis. However, nearly nobody understood and recognized his works at that time. They were recognized only twelve years after his death.

Lobachevsky’s ideas greatly influenced the development not only of geometry and other mathematical sciences, but also mechanics, physics and astronomy. One British mathematician called Lobachevsky ‘Copernicus of Geometry”.

My speciality.

I study at the mathematics faculty. My specialty is mathematics. I am going to be a teacher of mathematics at school. Mathematics taught at school is subdivided into the following branches: arithmetic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry.

Arithmetic is the elementary branch of mathematics, which deals with the properties of numbers and their operations. The fundamental operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Each statement of arithmetic deals with particular numbers.

Algebra is a generalization of arithmetic. The outstanding characteristic of algebra is the use of letters to represent numbers. All the rules of arithmetic hold for operations with letters. The signs in arithmetic are likewise used in algebra. A general rule stated in terms of letters is called formula.

Geometry is the branch of mathematics which investigates the relations, properties and measurements of solids, surfaces, lines and angles. A solid has three dimensions – length, width and thickness; a surface has two dimensions – length and width; a line has one dimension – length. A point has no length, width or thickness. It merely indicates position. When two straight lines meet at a Point an angle is formed.

Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between the sides and angles of triangles. Numerous problems may be solved by the calculation of unknown parts (sides and angles). The solution of these problems is greatly assisted by the use of trigonometric rations and functions.