Definition:Euler-Poincaré Characteristic/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Euler-Poincaré Characteristic
The concept of the Euler-Poincaré characteristic originated with Leonhard Paul Euler, who first noted that $\map \chi K = 2$ when $K$ is a regular polyhedron in Cartesian $3$-space.
His original definition was extended by Augustin Louis Cauchy in $1813$ and then Henri Poincaré in $1895$.
Sources
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Euler-Poincaré characteristic
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Euler-Poincaré characteristic