Dear Antreas,
No, this Sturm is not the author of the so-called "Sturm's problem" you
recall. I don't have a reference handy, but I am sure that the problem is
ascribed to the famous SWISS-born mathematician Jacques-CHARLES-Francois
Sturm (1803-1855).
----------------
And in a message dated April 11, 1999, Joe Albree wrote:
> First, does anyone know Sturm's full name?
>
Joe, as I already said, the author of _Mathesis enucleata_ [1] is
JOHANN Christoph Sturm (1635-1703)
and NOT his son, LEONHARD Christoph Sturm (1669-1719).
[1] (1st Latin edition, 1689)
_Joh. Christoph. Sturmii ... Mathesis enucleata, cujus praecipua
contenta sub finem praefationis, uno quasi obtutu spectanda, exhibentur_,
Norimbergae: typis & impensis Wolfgangi Mauritii Endteri, 474 pages, 1689.
[2] (2nd Latin edition, 1695)
_Joh. Christoph. Sturmii Mathesis enucleata, cuius praecipua contenta sub
finem praefationis, uno quasi obtutu spectanta exhibentur. Secunda nunc
vice multo emend_, Norimbergae: typis & impensis Wolfgangi Mauritii Endteri,
478 pages, 1695.
[3] (Reprinted 2nd Latin edition, 1711)
_Joh. Christoph. Sturmii Mathesis enucleata, cuius praecipua contenta sub
finem praefationis, uno quasi obtutu spectanta exhibentur. Secunda nunc
vice multo emend_, Norimbergae: Impensis Wolfgangi Mauritii Endteri,
478 pages, 1711.
> Second, the copy of *Mathesis enuncleata* at the United States Military
> Academy at West Point is bound together with Sturm's *Introduction to
> Specious Analysis*. Is this an exceptional copy, or do other copies of
> the 1700 edition of *Mathesis enuncleata* contain this bonus?
[4] (1st English edition, 1700)
Yes, the 1700 edition of *Mathesis enuncleata* includes: "An introduction
to specious analysis, or, The new geometry, chiefly according to the method
of Des Cartes, but much facilitated by later inventions, &c. By J. Christ.
Sturmius", with a special title page and separate pagination (96 pages).
But mind that this "bonus" was already in the second Latin edition [2]:
"In analysin speciosam, sive, geometriam novam introductio. Ad Cartesii
praecipue methodum, sed ex recentioribus inventis multum facilitatam,
accommodata. Studio & opera Joh. Christophori Sturmii".
[5] (2st English edition, 1724)
"Mathesis enucleata: or, the elements of mathematicks: to which is annexed,
an introduction to specious analysis, or, algebra", made in English by JR
[Joseph Raphson?], 2nd edition, corrected and amended by E. Stone, London:
D. Midwinter, xvi, 300 pages, 1724 .
> If Sturm's *Mathesis enuncleata* went through several editions, it must
> have been fairly popular in its time; how rare is it today? (I had never
> heard of it before coming upon the West Point copy.)
>
Sturm's intellectual harvest was indeed important. He was a prolific writer.
By the way, Ed is very lucky to own a personal copy of _Mathesis enuncleata_.
Regards to all,
Julio Gonzalez Cabillon
> ...
>
> On Mon, 12 Apr 1999, Prof. Dr. Ivo Schneider wrote:
>
>>
>> Sturmius is identical with Leonhard Christoph Sturm, born in 1635 in
>> Hippoltstein, died in 1703 in Altdorf near Nu"rnberg; his Mathesis
>> enucleata was published in Nu"rnberg in 1689.
>>
>> Ivo Schneider