Lagrange was born in Turin on January 25, 1736. As a boy he intended to be a lawyer but gradually decided that he would prefer to study sciences. He accidentally read an article written by the British astronomer and mathematician Edmund Halley arguing the superiority of calculus over Greek mathematics. This accelerated his study and acquired a great success that by the time he was 19 he had been appointed professor of mathematics at the Royal School of Artillery in Turin.
In 1755 Lagrange applied the calculus of variations to mechanics, and it offered a general procedure for solving dynamical problems. He communicated with these results with Euler who was greatly impressed. Throughout 18th century in Europe, the scientific academies encouraged research into celestial mechanics and there were prizes for the answer to specific questions. In 1764 Lagrange entered a competition to determine the gravitational forces that caused the moon to present a relatively unchanging face to the earth. He was the winner and received the Grand prize. Two years later he won again for a partial solution to a more complicated gravitational problem involving the planet Jupiter. In 1766 Lagrange became director of mathematical physics at the Berlin Academy. Lagrange was not required to lecture, instead he was composing memoires nearly every month ranging from probability to the theory of equations. In number theory Lagrange solved some of the questions made by Fermat including the famous theorem that every positive integer is the sum of the squares of four integers. In 1772, his third Gran prize from the Paris Academy and in 1774 and in 1778 again he won the Grand prizes for the study on the sun, moon, earth and the perturbations of comets. In 1788 Lagrange published his masterpiece, the Mechanique Analitique (Analytical Mechanics). Lagrange was known for his gentle demeanour and his diplomatic skills. At the Berlin Academy he remained in favour with the king unlike Euler. When he first settled in Paris he was doted by Queen Marie-Antoinette, yet later he managed to have good terms with Bonaparte. He was appointed Senator, a count of the Empire, and Grand officer of the Legion of Honour. Although he never met Euler but it was Euler who influenced Lagrange most. Any study of his work must be preceded by or accompanied by the work of Euler. He died on April 11, 1813 at the age of 77.
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