(1796–1863). One of the greatest geometers in history was the Swiss mathematician Jakob Steiner. He was one of the founders of projective geometry, a branch of mathematics dealing with the relationships between geometric figures and their projected images on a surface or line. He also studied algebraic curves and surfaces and maxima and minima. (See also algebra; calculus; geometry.)
Jakob Steiner was born on March 18, 1796, in Utzenstorf, Switzerland. As a child he was compelled to help his parents on their farm and in their business, and his early schooling suffered severely as a result. He did not learn to write until he was 14. At the age of 18, however, Steiner left home to pursue his education at the Pestalozzi School in Yverdon, Switzerland. There his extraordinary geometric intuition was discovered. He later studied in Heidelberg and Berlin, Germany. In 1832 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Königsberg, and two years later he was appointed to the chair of geometry established for him at the University of Berlin.
Steiner had an extreme dislike for the use of algebra and analysis and often expressed the opinion that calculation replaces thinking, whereas pure geometry stimulates thought. His collected writings, Gesammelte Werke, were published in two volumes in 1881 and 1882. Steiner died in Bern, Switzerland, on April 1, 1863.