Marin Mersenne, 1588–1648

摘要

Marin Mersenne was many things: scientist, mathematician and writer. He did original work on acoustics and on prime numbers; today his name is linked to a family of primes called ‘Mersenne primes’. But his greatest contribution was his work in propagating a culture of scientific inquiry in Europe — a culture which emphasized communication and dissemination and learning from one’s peers. The work done on the cycloid illustrates this theme beautifully. This article looks at some work for which Mersenne is best known.