Michel Rolle

Michel Rolle (April 21, 1652 - November 8, 1719) was a French mathematician. He is best known for Rolle's theorem (1691). He also invented the nowadays standardized notation[?] <math>\sqrt[n]{x}</math> to denote the <math>n</math>:th root of <math>x</math>. Rolle was born in Ambert[?], Basse-Auvergne[?]; he died in Paris.

In 1675 he moved from Ambert[?] to Paris and in 1785 he was elected to join the Académie Royal des Sciences[?] and became a Pensionnaire Géometre of the Académie (1699). He had then already been given a pension by Jean-Baptiste Colbert after solving one of Jacques Ozanams[?] problems.

Rolle was an early critic of calculus; arguing that it was inacurate and based upon unsound reason. He later changed his opinion[?].

External Links

• Rolle.html (http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Rolle.html)