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Hyperbolic geometry — János Bolyai

1832 AD · Transmission: Disputed
MathematicsTheoryHungarian

János Bolyai independently developed a consistent geometry in which Euclid's parallel postulate does not hold. His work, published as an appendix to his father Farkas Bolyai's mathematical treatise in 1832, describes the same system Lobachevsky had published in Russian in 1829. Gauss had reached similar conclusions without publishing them. All three developments are independent and constitute the foundation of non-Euclidean geometry.

InstitutionVienna Military Academy / independent work in Marosvásárhely (present-day Târgu Mureș, Romania)
Historical regionKingdom of Hungary — Austro-Hungarian Empire
Primary sourceBolyai, J. — "Appendix: Scientiam spatii absolute veram exhibens", in: Bolyai, F. — Tentamen juventutem studiosam in elementa matheseos purae... Marosvásárhely, 1832.
Secondary sourceMacTutor, St Andrews — János Bolyai; Gray, J. — Worlds Out of Nothing: A Course in the History of Geometry in the 19th Century (2007, Springer)
Original languageLatin
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