Louis Poinsot

Louis Poinsot (3 January 1777 – 5 December 1859) was a French mathematician and physicist. Poinsot was the inventor of geometrical mechanics, showing how a system of forces acting on a rigid body could be resolved into a single force and a couple.

Life

Louis was born in Paris on 3 January 1777. He attended the school of Lycée Louis-le-Grand for secondary preparatory education for entrance to the famous École Polytechnique. In October 1794, at age 17, he took the École Polytechnique entrance exam and failed the algebra section but was still accepted. A student there for two years, he left in 1797 to study at École des Ponts et Chaussées to become a civil engineer. Although now on course for the practical and secure professional study of civil engineering, he discovered his true passion, abstract mathematics.

Poinsot thus left the École des Ponts et Chaussées and civil engineering to become a mathematics teacher at the secondary school Lycée Bonaparte in Paris, from 1804 to 1809. From there he became inspector general of the Imperial University of France. He shared the post with another famous mathematician, Delambre. On 1 November 1809, Poinsot became assistant professor of analysis and mechanics at his old school the École Polytechnique. During this period of transitions between schools and work, Poinsot had remained active in research and published a number of works on geometry, mechanics and statics so that by 1809 he had an excellent reputation.

Poinsot (crater)

Poinsot is a worn lunar crater that is located at the northern part of the Moon on the far side. It lies to the south of the walled plain Rozhdestvenskiy. To the south is the smaller crater Heymans.

This formation has been heavily worn by subsequent impacts, leaving a round-shouldered outer rim that is nearly even with the surrounding terrain and an inner surface that slopes down to the floor without terraces or horizontal features. A number of tiny craterlets lie along the rim edge and inner walls, as well as across the level interior surface. The floor lacks a central peak at the midpoint, but has a small but notable crater lying next to the western inner wall.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Poinsot.

References