1878-1973

French mathematician who introduced the concept of a metric space in topology, together with the properties of completeness, compactness, and separability, and connected topology with algebra into what is now known as functional analysis. Fréchet also had an interest in probability theory and statistics, as evident in his early work with sociologist Maurice Halbwachs and his cooperation with Emile Borel and Paul Levy in exploring analogies between the measure theory of real variables and strong laws of large numbers.