MATHEMATICIAN

René Thom

1923 - 2002

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René Frédéric Thom (French: [ʁəne tɔm]; 2 September 1923 – 25 October 2002) was a French mathematician, who received the Fields Medal in 1958. He made his reputation as a topologist, moving on to aspects of what would be called singularity theory; he became world-famous among the wider academic community and the educated general public for one aspect of this latter interest, his work as founder of catastrophe theory (later developed by Christopher Zeeman). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of René Thom has received more than 206,587 page views. His biography is available in 41 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 39 in 2019). René Thom is the 168th most popular mathematician (up from 172nd in 2019), the 1,196th most popular biography from France (up from 1,229th in 2019) and the 34th most popular French Mathematician.

René Thom is most famous for his work in catastrophe theory. He created a mathematical model to describe the evolution of complex systems.

Memorability Metrics

  • 210k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 61.33

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 41

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.87

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.69

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among MATHEMATICIANS

Among mathematicians, René Thom ranks 168 out of 1,004. Before him are Alonzo Church, André Weil, James Joseph Sylvester, Pierre Bouguer, George Pólya, and Felix Hausdorff. After him are Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, Aleksandr Lyapunov, Camille Jordan, Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Marcel Grossmann, and Jost Bürgi.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1923, René Thom ranks 47. Before him are Alice Miller, Mauno Koivisto, Erland Josephson, Edgar F. Codd, Shūsaku Endō, and Glynis Johns. After him are Aristides Pereira, Walter Kohn, Queen Anne of Romania, Norman Mailer, Linda Christian, and Stephanie Kwolek. Among people deceased in 2002, René Thom ranks 43. Before him are Hildegard Knef, Ne Win, Song Hye-rim, Aileen Wuornos, Zizinho, and Raf Vallone. After him are Max Perutz, Xi Zhongxun, Victor Weisskopf, María Félix, Sigvard Bernadotte, and Yoshio Okada.

Others Born in 1923

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Others Deceased in 2002

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In France

Among people born in France, René Thom ranks 1,196 out of 6,770. Before him are Édouard Vuillard (1868), Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (1346), Thomas, Count of Savoy (1178), François Cluzet (1955), Charibert II (618), and Marie Laurencin (1883). After him are Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (1930), Louis Jacques Thénard (1777), Jean Todt (1946), Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (1838), Alain de Benoist (1943), and Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1749).

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Among MATHEMATICIANS In France

Among mathematicians born in France, René Thom ranks 34. Before him are Émile Borel (1871), Henri Lebesgue (1875), Joseph Liouville (1809), Michel Rolle (1652), André Weil (1906), and Pierre Bouguer (1698). After him are Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1749), Camille Jordan (1838), Jean-Pierre Serre (1926), Édouard Lucas (1842), Jean Gaston Darboux (1842), and Gabriel Lamé (1795).

French born Mathematicians

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