Today is Adrien-Marie Legendre's Birthday!
Happy Birthday
Legendre!
Born: September 18, 1752
in Paris, France
Died: January 10, 1833
in Paris, France
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When Legendre was seventy-four years old he was asked to referee Abel's
Memoir on a general property of a very extensive class of transcendental
functions. In a letter to Jacobi dated April 8, 1829, Legendre
wrote, "We perceived that the memoir was barely legible; it was written
in ink almost white, the letters badly formed; it was agreed between us
that the author should be asked for a neater copy to read. The other
referee was Cauchy who took the memoir home, mislaid it, and forgot all
about one of the most important publications in the 19th century.
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