Jakob Hermann
Who was Jakob Hermann?
Mathematician from Basel (1678-1733)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Jakob Hermann (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Jakob Hermann (16 July 1678 – 11 July 1733) was a Swiss mathematician known for his work in classical mechanics and mathematical analysis, making him one of the top scientific minds of the early 18th century. Born in Basel, he studied under Jacob Bernoulli at the University of Basel, graduating in 1695 and earning a Master's in 1696 with a dissertation on infinite series. Bernoulli considered Hermann to be his best student, which was a big deal considering the high level of talent at Basel during that time.
Hermann's career took him to several major academic centers in Europe. He joined the Berlin Academy in 1701 and, in 1707, became a mathematics professor at the University of Padua, one of Italy's top schools. He later moved to Frankfurt an der Oder in 1713 and then to St. Petersburg in 1724, where he worked with Daniel Bernoulli. Hermann returned to Basel in 1731, and Bernoulli took over his position. In Basel, Hermann became a professor of ethics and natural law, showing how scholars were expected to have wide-ranging expertise. He was elected to the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris in 1733, the year he died.
Hermann's most famous work, "Phoronomia," is a treatise on mechanics written in Latin and published in 1716. This book tackles classical mechanics problems with mathematical precision and was one of the early organized studies of the subject in the tradition of Leibniz. An English translation by Ian Bruce was completed in 2015–16, allowing modern readers to access the text. "Phoronomia" shows Hermann's expertise in both Newtonian and Leibnizian mechanics, a combination that was rare and highly productive at the time.
Among Hermann's notable contributions to mathematics and physics, two stand out. He was the first to show that the Laplace–Runge–Lenz vector is constant for particles under an inverse-square central force, a key concept in celestial mechanics and later in quantum mechanics. In 1729, he also explained how plotting a locus using a polar coordinate system is as straightforward as doing it with a Cartesian system, helping to popularize polar coordinates in mathematics.
Hermann was closely connected with top intellectuals of his time. He was a second cousin to Leonhard Euler's mother, linking him to one of the greatest mathematicians of the century. When Jacob Bernoulli died in 1705, Gottfried Leibniz personally asked Hermann to write Bernoulli's obituary for the Acta Eruditorum, a leading mathematical journal of the time. This request highlighted the high regard in which Hermann's contemporaries held him.
Before Fame
Jakob Hermann was born in Basel on 16 July 1678, when the city was known for mathematics, mainly due to the Bernoulli family and their associates. He studied at the University of Basel under Jacob Bernoulli, a leading mathematician in Europe. Hermann was an outstanding student, earning his first degree in 1695 and a Master's degree in 1696 with a dissertation on infinite series, a leading topic in mathematics at the time.
Bernoulli's acknowledgment of Hermann as his top student opened opportunities for him throughout Europe. At the turn of the seventeenth century, mathematical debates were intense, particularly over calculus, developed separately by Newton and Leibniz, with scholars joining different sides. Hermann thrived in this setting, favoring the Leibnizian approach, which helped him secure positions at various institutions across Europe. By his mid-twenties, his early publications and election to the Berlin Academy in 1701 showed he had transitioned from student to respected contributor.
Key Achievements
- Authored the Phoronomia (1716), one of the earliest systematic Latin treatises on classical mechanics
- First demonstrated that the Laplace–Runge–Lenz vector is a constant of motion for particles under an inverse-square central force
- Articulated in 1729 the equivalence of graphing loci in polar and Cartesian coordinate systems, advancing the use of polar coordinates
- Elected to the Berlin Academy in 1701 and later to the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris in 1733
- Held chairs in mathematics at the University of Padua, Frankfurt an der Oder, and the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Did You Know?
- 01.Jacob Bernoulli, one of the most eminent mathematicians of the seventeenth century, singled out Hermann as the best student among all those he taught at the University of Basel.
- 02.When Jacob Bernoulli died in 1705, Gottfried Leibniz specifically asked Hermann to write the obituary for Acta Eruditorum, the leading scientific journal of German-speaking Europe.
- 03.Hermann was a second cousin of Leonhard Euler's mother, making him a family connection to the mathematician who would go on to dominate eighteenth-century mathematics.
- 04.His treatise Phoronomia, published in 1716 in Latin, went without an English translation for nearly three centuries until Ian Bruce completed one in 2015–16.
- 05.Hermann was elected to the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris in 1733, the very year he died, recognition that arrived at the very end of his life.