Johann Heinrich Lambert (August 26, 1728 – September 25, 1777), was a Swiss mathematician, physicist and astronomer.
He was born in Mülhausen (now Mulhouse, Alsace, France; then an exclave of Switzerland). His father was a poor tailor, so Johann had to struggle to gain an education. He first worked as a clerk in an ironworks, then gained a position in a newspaper office. The editor recommended him as a private tutor to a family, which gave him ac...
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Johann Heinrich Lambert (August 26, 1728 – September 25, 1777), was a Swiss mathematician, physicist and astronomer.
He was born in Mülhausen (now Mulhouse, Alsace, France; then an exclave of Switzerland). His father was a poor tailor, so Johann had to struggle to gain an education. He first worked as a clerk in an ironworks, then gained a position in a newspaper office. The editor recommended him as a private tutor to a family, which gave him access to a good library and provided enough leisure time in which to explore it. In 1759 he moved to Augsburg, then in 1763 he dwelt in Berlin. In the final decade of his life he gained the sponsorship of Frederick II of Prussia, and passed the rest of his life in reasonable comfort. He died in Berlin, Prussia (today Germany).
Lambert studied light intensity and was the first to introduce hyperbolic functions into trigonometry. Also, he made conjectures regarding non-Euclidean space. Lambert is credited with the first proof that π is irrational...
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