Rolle, Michel
Rolle, Michel
Born Apr. 21, 1652, in Ambert; died Nov. 8, 1719, in Paris. French mathematician. Member of the Académie des Sciences (1685).
In his Traité d’algèbre (Treatise on Algebra) (1690), Rolle developed a method for isolating the real roots of algebraic equations; the method was based on a special case of Rolle’s theorem. Rolle also worked on finding integer solutions of indeterminate linear equations in two unknowns. The criticism he made of G. von Leibniz’ infinitesimal calculus in the early 18th century gave rise to an animated discussion.