Jacques Philippe Marie Binet

Jacques Philippe Marie Binet was a French mathematician, physicist and astronomer born in Rennes; he died in Paris, France, in 1856. He made significant contributions to number theory, and the mathematical foundations of matrix algebra which would later lead to important contributions by Cayley and others. In his memoir on the theory of the conjugate axis and of the moment of inertia of bodies he enumerated the principle now known as Binet's theorem. He is also recognized as the first to describe the rule for multiplying matrices in 1812, and Binet's formula expressing Fibonacci numbers in closed form is named in his honour, although the same result was known to Abraham de Moivre a century earlier.

2 February 1786

Born on the same birth day (2 February): Al McKay • Aleksey Naumov (footballer) • Ana Roces • Barbara Sukowa • Bona Sforza • Burton Lane • Carolina Klüft • Eric Kierans • Frederick Lane • Ieroklis Stoltidis • James Hickman • Jean-Baptiste Boussingault • John Armitt • John Paul Harney • José Guadalupe Posada • Liz Smith (journalist) • Miwa Asao • Paul Mescal • Philip Laats • Rockwilder • Ross Valory • Salem al-Hazmi • Silvestre Varela • Teddy Hart • Todd Bertuzzi

Born in the same month (February 1786): François Arago • Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach • Martin W. Bates • Wilhelm Grimm