1765-1843

French mathematician who was born to poor parents who could not afford to educate him properly. Fortunately, he came to the attention of famed mathematician Gaspard Monge, an influential educator who secured a professorship for him in mathematics at the Ecole Gardes de Marine at Rochefort. After teaching at several other schools in France, Lacroix held the chair of analysis at the Ecole Polytechnique and later at the Sorbonne and the Collège de France. In addition to a 3-volume text on calculus, Lacroix published a 10-volume edition titled Cours de Mathématique (1797-99).