1. Jean-Victor Poncelet is considered a reviver of projective geometry, and his work Traite des proprietes projectives des figures is considered the first definitive text on the subject since Gerard Desargues' work on it in the 17th century.
14 Facts About Jean-Victor Poncelet
1. 2.
Jean-Victor Poncelet later wrote an introduction to it: Applications d'analyse et de geometrie.
3.
Jean-Victor Poncelet made discoveries about projective harmonic conjugates; relating these to the poles and polar lines associated with conic sections.
4.
Jean-Victor Poncelet developed the concept of parallel lines meeting at a point at infinity and defined the circular points at infinity that are on every circle of the plane.
5.
Jean-Victor Poncelet is honoured by having his name listed among notable French engineers and scientists displayed around the first stage of the Eiffel tower.
6.
Jean-Victor Poncelet returned to Metz for his secondary education, at Lycee Fabert.
7.
Jean-Victor Poncelet attended the Ecole d'application in his hometown during this time, and achieved the rank of lieutenant in the French Army the same year he graduated.
8.
Jean-Victor Poncelet took part in Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812.
9.
In 1815, the year after his release, Jean-Victor Poncelet was employed a military engineer at his hometown of Metz.
10.
Jean-Victor Poncelet published several papers about the subject in Annales de Gergonne.
11.
In 1848, Jean-Victor Poncelet became the Commanding General of his alma mater, the Ecole Polytechnique.
12.
Jean-Victor Poncelet held the position until 1850, when he retired.
13.
Jean-Victor Poncelet was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1865.
14.
Jean-Victor Poncelet discovered the following theorem in 1822: Euclidean compass and straightedge constructions can be carried out using only a straightedge if a single circle and its center is given.