Who was Caspar Wessel?
Q: Who was Caspar Wessel?
A: Caspar Wessel was a Danish-Norwegian mathematician.
Q: Where was he born?
A: He was born in Jonsrud, Vestby, Akershus, Norway.
Q: What degree did he obtain in 1778?
A: In 1778 he obtained the degree of candidatus juris, which is one law degree.
Q: What job did he have in 1794?
A: In 1794 he was hired as a surveyor; in 1798, a Royal inspector of Surveying.
Q: What paper did he publish in 1799?
A: He published Om directionens analytiske betegning (On the Analytical Representation of Direction) in 1799 by the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Q: What idea did his paper show that went unnoticed at first?
A: His paper showed the concept of vectors that went unnoticed at first.
Q: How is his work still used today? A: His work is still used today when adding vectors; his idea on addition being "Two straight lines are added if we unite them in such a way that the second line begins where the first one ends and then pass a straight line from the first to the last point of the united lines" is still used today for vector addition.
