Jean-Louis Calandrini

Jean-Louis Calandrini
250px Jean-Louis Calandrini (1703-1758). Portrait by the Geneva painter Robert Gardelle in 1760.
Born	August 30, 1703 Geneva, Republic of Geneva
Died	December 29, 1758 Geneva, Republic of Geneva
Residence	Switzerland
Nationality	Swiss
Fields	Mathematics, philosophy, and physics
Institutions	Academy of Geneva
Alma mater	Academy of Geneva

Jean-Louis Calandrini (August 30, 1703 – December 29, 1758) was a Swiss scientist. He was a professor of mathematics and philosophy. He was the author of some studies on the aurora borealis, comets, and the effects of lightning, as well as of an important but unpublished work on flat and spherical trigonometry. He also wrote a commentary on the Principia of Isaac Newton (published in Geneva, 1739–42), for which he wrote approximately one hundred footnotes.

The genus Calandrinia was named after him.

His father was a pastor, also named Jean-Louis, and his mother was Michée Du Pan. He is the grandnephew of Bénédict Calandrini. In 1729, he married Renée Lullin. At the Academy of Geneva, he obtained his thesis in physics (1722). In 1724, Calandrini was named mathematics professor at the same time as Gabriel Cramer, but he first undertook a three-year journey to France and England. He was appointed professor of philosophy from 1734 to 1750. He also played an active role on the political scene of Geneva.

External links

• Jean-Louis Calandrini in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.