Poincaré, Jules Henri

Poincaré, Jules Henri
(1854–1912)
French mathematician and philosopher. Poincaré's main philosophical interest lay in the formal and logical character of theories in the physical sciences. He is especially remembered for the discussion of the scientific status of geometry, in La Science et l’hypothèse (1902, trs. as Science and Hypothesis, 1905). The axioms of geometry are not analytic, nor do they state fundamental empirical properties of space. Rather, they are conventions governing the description of space, whose adoption is governed by their utility in furthering the purpose of description. Poincaré's conventionalism about geometry proceeded, however, against the background of a general realism about the objects of scientific enquiry, and he always insisted that there could be good reason for adopting one set of conventions rather than another. In his late Dernières Pensées (1912, trs. as Mathematics and Science: Last Essays, 1963), Poincaré attacks the logicist programme of Frege and Russell, denying that mathematics can be reduced to logic, and arguing that further intuition is always needed to derive the properties of numbers.

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  • Poincaré,Jules Henri — Poin·ca·ré (pwăɴ kä rāʹ), Jules Henri. 1854 1912. French mathematician and physicist who made a number of contributions to the fields of celestial mechanics and algebraic topology. * * * …   Universalium

  • Poincaré , (Jules) Henri — (1854–1912) French mathematician and philosopher of science Poincaré was born at Nancy in eastern France and studied at the Ecole Polytechnique and the School of Mines. At first he had intended to become an engineer, but fortunately his… …   Scientists

  • Poincaré, (Jules-) Henri — born April 29, 1854, Nancy, France died July 17, 1912, Paris French mathematician, theoretical astronomer, and philosopher of science. Born into a distinguished family of civil servants (see Raymond Poincare), he excelled at mental calculation… …   Universalium

  • Poincaré, (Jules-) Henri — (29 abr. 1854, Nancy, Francia–17 jul. 1912, París). Matemático, astrónomo teórico y filósofo de la ciencia francés. Nacido en una distinguida familia de empleados estatales (ver Raymond Poincaré), destacó en cálculos mentales y poseía una memoria …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Poincaré, Jules-Henri — ► (1854 1912) Matemático francés. Fue además un filósofo de la ciencia de indiscutible profundidad. Son importantes sus contribuciones al cálculo diferencial e integral. Se ocupó asimismo de cuestiones de física matemática, en especial de las… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jules Henri Poincaré — Henri Poincaré Jules Henri Poincaré [pwɛ̃kaˈʀe] (* 29. April 1854 in Nancy; † 17. Juli 1912 in Paris) war ein bedeutender französischer Mathematiker, theoretischer Physiker und Philosoph. Seine Forschungen hatten auch starke Wi …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Henri Poincare — Henri Poincaré Jules Henri Poincaré [pwɛ̃kaˈʀe] (* 29. April 1854 in Nancy; † 17. Juli 1912 in Paris) war ein bedeutender französischer Mathematiker, theoretischer Physiker und Philosoph. Seine Forschungen hatten auch starke Wi …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Poincaré — Poincaré, Jules Henri Poincaré, Raymond …   Enciclopedia Universal

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