Jacques Binet (1786 - 1856)

Jacques Binet

Jacques Philippe Marie Binet is the French mathematician credited with finding the formula for finding any nth value of the Fibonacci series, Binet's Formula. Binet enrolled in the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris in 1804 and after graduating two years later he took a job with the Department of Bridges and Roads of the French government. By 1807, he was a teacher at the Ecole Polytechnique, and, a year later, he was appointed assistant to the professor of applied analysis and descriptive geometry.

By the time of the July Revolution of 1830, Binet was inspector of studies at the Ecole Polytechnique and also chair of astronomy at the Collège de France . Revolution, however was not a good thing for Binet. Since Binet was a great supporter of Charles X, when Charles abdicated on August 2 and Louis-Philippe came to power a week later, he was unfavored in the new French government. On November 13 of 1830, Binet was dismissed as inspector of studies. He kept his chair of astronomy at the Collège de France for a total of 30 years.

Binet's contributions to the fields of mathematics and science are numerous. He researched the foundations of matrix theory, discovering the rule for multiplying matricies in 1812. His other work aside, that discovery is primarily that for which he has been and will be remembered. Binet also contributed to number theory, specifically the theory of the Euclidean algorithm. And of course, Binet's Formula (below) is a convenient way of finding any Fibonacci number x.

Binet was not strictly a mathematician though. He wrote over 50 papers on topics of physics and astronomy. Binet was honored with the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1821 and was elected to the Académie des Sciences in 1843.