MATHEMATICIAN

René Thom

1923 - 2002

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René Frédéric Thom (French: [ʁəne tɔm]; 2 September 1923 – 25 October 2002) was a French mathematician, who received the Fields Medal in 1958. He made his reputation as a topologist, moving on to aspects of what would be called singularity theory; he became world-famous among the wider academic community and the educated general public for one aspect of this latter interest, his work as the founder of catastrophe theory (later developed by Christopher Zeeman). Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. René Thom is the 197th most popular mathematician (down from 168th in 2019), the 1,260th most popular biography from France (down from 1,196th in 2019) and the 42nd most popular French Mathematician.

René Thom is most famous for his work in catastrophe theory. He created a mathematical model to describe the evolution of complex systems.

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Among MATHEMATICIANS

Among mathematicians, René Thom ranks 197 out of 1,004. Before him are Rafael Bombelli, Peter Ludwig Mejdell Sylow, Étienne-Louis Malus, Wacław Sierpiński, Camille Jordan, and Jan Łukasiewicz. After him are James Gregory, Lewis Fry Richardson, Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Ernst Schröder, Tatyana Afanasyeva, and Conon of Samos.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1923, René Thom ranks 55. Before him are Aristides Pereira, Ahmet Ertegun, Yelena Bonner, Bert Trautmann, Stjepan Bobek, and Walter Kohn. After him are Freeman Dyson, Mukesh, Stephanie Kwolek, Jorge Semprún, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, and Antonio Quarracino. Among people deceased in 2002, René Thom ranks 49. Before him are John Cocke, Ne Win, Yoshio Okada, Eduardo Chillida, Raf Vallone, and John Gotti. After him are Cyrus Vance, Sigvard Bernadotte, Aileen Wuornos, Pim Fortuyn, Agatha Barbara, and Laurent Schwartz.

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In France

Among people born in France, René Thom ranks 1,260 out of 6,770. Before him are Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (1460), Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy (1435), Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (1930), Antipope Gregory VIII (1100), Pierre Cauchon (1371), and Étienne-Jules Marey (1830). After him are Franck Ribéry (1983), Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden (1655), Margaret I, Countess of Flanders (1145), Joël Robuchon (1945), Jules Ferry (1832), and Odile of Alsace (662).

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Among MATHEMATICIANS In France

Among mathematicians born in France, René Thom ranks 42. Before him are Jean-Pierre Serre (1926), Étienne Bézout (1730), Édouard Lucas (1842), Jean Gaston Darboux (1842), Étienne-Louis Malus (1775), and Camille Jordan (1838). After him are André Weil (1906), Élie Cartan (1869), Pierre Bouguer (1698), Laurent Schwartz (1915), Antoine Augustin Cournot (1801), and Pierre Varignon (1654).

French born Mathematicians

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