
The other bicentenary: Cauchy commemorated in 1989 | Tangente
The other bicentenary
In France, 1989 was a year of major celebrations marking the bicentenary of the 1789 Revolution. Yet it was also the bicentenary of Cauchy's birth.


In France, 1989 was a year of major celebrations marking the bicentenary of the 1789 Revolution. Yet it was also the bicentenary of Cauchy's birth.


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Disputes over the authorship of theorems reflect the bitter controversies that pitted Cauchy against some mathematicians of his time.

Although his name means only one thing to us—that of a mathematician—Cauchy also had a solid classical education. Having won distinction in the literary papers of the Concours général, he even tried his hand at poetry to explain the value of his science.

Thanks to the work of Joseph Sauveur and later Hermann von Helmholtz on sound phenomena, we can analyze a sound in terms of its pitch, intensity and timbre. This is the analysis used in computer music, which is so popular with contemporary composers.

Cauchy had close ties to the southern suburbs of Paris. After growing up in Arcueil, he spent his holidays in Sceaux, where he produced some of his mathematical work. He also died and was buried there.
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