Jean-Charles de la Faille

Jean-Charles de la Faille

by

Anthony Van Dyck

Today in 1597 is the birthdate for Jean-Charles de la Faille [Flemish mathematician]. He was a contempory of Galileo and one of many Jesuits involved in the sciences. His most famous work is Theoremata de centro gravitatis [Theorems of Centers of Gravity] [1632].

The portrait above by Van Dyck was done just prior to de la Faille's move to the court of Phillip IV in Madrid in 1629 and considered the only portrait that Van Dyck did of a scientist.

Jean-Charles de la Faille [Wikipedia]