Euler's Correspondence with Alexis Claude Clairaut

A precocious youth, Alexis Clairaut was admitted to the French Academy of Sciences at the age of sixteen -- below the legal age for admittance. Over his 42-year life, Clairaut would go on to do important work in Geography, Astronomy, and Mathematics. He is perhaps best known for his work on the three-body problem; his determination of the shape of the Earth (confirming Newton's declaration that it would be flattened at the poles); and his settling an apparent difference between observations of the apogees of the moon and theoretical predictions of the same.

A part of the Euler-Clairaut correspondence is concerned with this lunar problem. Euler, having learned of Clairaut's results, tried and failed to work the calculations on his own. He wrote Clairaut to ask for assistance, but was apparently sufficiently unsatisfied with Clairaut's answer. He then had the St Petersburg Academy set the 1752 prize topic to be the problem of the moon's apogee. Clairuat's paper not only won, it allowed Euler finally to understand his work, which impressed him greatly.

(Visit the Colleagues and Contemporaries page for more information about the people in Euler's life.)

For more information about Clairaut, visit these links:

Publication Information: List of all known correspondence (61 letters total):
OO386 Clairaut to Euler 17 September, 1740
OO387 Euler to Clairaut 19 October, 1740
OO388 Clairaut to Euler 26 December, 1740
OO389 Euler to Clairaut 24 February, 1741
OO390 Clairaut to Euler 12 April, 1741
OO391 Clairaut to Euler 11 October, 1741
OO392 Euler to Clairaut 31 October, 1741
OO393 Clairaut to Euler 04 January, 1742
OO394 Euler to Clairaut 04 January, 1742
OO395 Clairaut to Euler 28 March, 1742
OO396 Euler to Clairaut April, 1742
OO397 Clairaut to Euler 29 May, 1742
OO398 Euler to Clairaut 19 June, 1742
OO399 Clairaut to Euler 25 July, 1742
OO400 Clairaut to Euler 14 September, 1742
OO401 Clairaut to Euler 03 December, 1742
OO402 Clairaut to Euler 28 December, 1742
OO403 Clairaut to Euler 23 April, 1743
OO404 Clairaut to Euler 07 September, 1743
OO405 Clairaut to Euler 19 February, 1744
OO406 Clairaut to Euler 14 March, 1744
OO407 Clairaut to Euler 26 April, 1744
OO408 Clairaut to Euler 12 May, 1744
OO409 Clairaut to Euler 30 May, 1744
OO410 Clairaut to Euler 23 August, 1744
OO411 Clairaut to Euler 19 January, 1745
OO412 Clairaut to Euler 20 March, 1745
OO413 Clairaut to Euler 14 July, 1745
OO414 Clairaut to Euler 23 November, 1745
OO415 Clairaut to Euler 22 April, 1746
OO416 Clairaut to Euler 24 March, 1747
OO417 Euler to Clairaut 10 June, 1747
OO418 Clairaut to Euler 03 September, 1747
OO419 Clairaut to Euler 11 September, 1747
OO420 Euler to Clairaut 30 September, 1747
OO421 Clairaut to Euler 07 December, 1747
OO422 Euler to Clairaut 06 January, 1748
OO423 Clairaut to Euler 27 April, 1748
OO424 Clairaut to Euler 28 March, 1749
OO425 Clairaut to Euler 19 June, 1749
OO426 Clairaut to Euler 21 July, 1749
OO427 Clairaut to Euler 19 January, 1750
OO428 Clairaut to Euler 19 March, 1750
OO429 Euler to Clairaut 02 June, 1750
OO430 Clairaut to Euler 24 July, 1750
OO431 Clairaut to Euler 31 December, 1750
OO432 Clairaut to Euler 24 February, 1751
OO433 Euler to Clairaut 16 March, 1751
OO434 Euler to Clairaut 10 April, 1751
OO435 Clairaut to Euler 28 April, 1751
OO436 Euler to Clairaut 29 June, 1751
OO437 Clairaut to Euler 05 August, 1751
OO438 Clairaut to Euler 26 September, 1751
OO439 Clairaut to Euler 09 January, 1752
OO440 Clairaut to Euler 04 April, 1752
OO441 Clairaut to Euler 24 June, 1752
OO442 Clairaut to Euler 13 September, 1763
OO443 Clairaut to Euler 06 January, 1764
OO444 Clairaut to Euler undated, 1764


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