Johann heinrich lambert

lifestory
Johann Heinrich Lambert was a Swiss mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and
philosopher. He is especially well-known for being the first person to provide evidence that
Pi (ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter), is irrational, which means it cannot
be expressed as the quotient of two integers. He was also the one who introduced hyperbolic
functions into trigonometry. Lambert is also said to be the first mathematician who addressed
the general properties of map projection. His contribution to physics was also immense. The
hygrometer, which is an instrument to measure the moisture content in the atmosphere, was
invented by him. He also did research on the measurement of light, and published a book on it
named Photometria. He is also remembered for his contribution to philosophy. He
corresponded with Immanuel Kent and though the latter decided to dedicate his work
Critique of Pure Reason to Lambert, he died before the work was complete. Lambert, as an
astronomer, developed a theory about the generation of the universe. It was similar to the
nebular hypothesis formed by Thomas Wright and Immanuel Kant.

Distribution of mathematics
Lambert devised a formula for the relationship between the angles and the area of hyperbolic
triangles. These are triangles drawn on a concave surface, as on a saddle, instead of the usual
flat Euclidean surface. Lambert showed that the angles added up to less than (radians), or
180. The amount of shortfall, called the defect, increases with the area. The larger the
triangle's area, the smaller the sum of the angles and hence the larger the defect C = (
+ + ). That is, the area of a hyperbolic triangle (multiplied by a constant C) is equal to (in
radians), or 180, minus the sum of the angles , , and . Here C denotes, in the present
sense, the negative of the curvature of the surface (taking the negative is necessary as the
curvature of a saddle surface is defined to be negative in the first place). As the triangle gets
larger or smaller, the angles change in a way that forbids the existence of similar hyperbolic
triangles, as only triangles that have the same angles will have the same area. Hence, instead
of expressing the area of the triangle in terms of the lengths of its sides, as in Euclid's
geometry, the area of Lambert's hyperbolic triangle can be expressed in terms of its angles.