Scientific Works from 1838 to 1848

Abstract

Between October 1838 and February 1848, Cauchy’s scientific accomplishments were as abundant as during the Restoration Era. However, the conditions under which he worked were very different from those that had existed before 1830. Most important, Cauchy was now no longer teaching; and, by the very nature of things as they stood at this time, he found himself working on the fringes of the French scientific community. He had been away from that community for more than eight years, and during that time, considerable changes had taken place. He was still a member of the Académie, des Sciences, attending the weekly meetings during which he was able to communicate the results of his research. In 1836, the Académie began to publish its Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances, which allowed members to publish their works quickly. This stimulated interest in Cauchy’s communications on his research. In fact, Cauchy, more than any other member of the Académie, took advantage of this journal, publishing a note or memoir each week. Moreover, starting in September 1839, he resumed publication of Exercices (which had been interrupted since 1836) under the new title Exercices d’Analyse et de Physique Mathématique. Altogether, Cauchy presented about 240 notes and studies to the Académie during this period, of which most were published in the Académie’s Comptes Rendus. Aside from these works, Cauchy published 27 reports during this period.