Gian-Carlo Rota
| Image:Gcr.jpg |
Gian-Carlo Rota (1932-1999) was an Italian-born American mathematicianphilosopher.
He was bornVigevano, Italy, where he lived until he was 13 years old. At that time his family fled Italy because his father, Giovanni Rota, was likelybe an objectfascist persecution.
He attendedColegio Americano de QuitoEcuador,earned degrees at Princeton UniversityYale University. For mosthis career he wasprofessor atMassachusetts InstituteTechnology, where he wasonly person everbe appointed ProfessorApplied MathematicsPhilosophy.
He began his career asfunctional analyst, but changed directionsbecamedistinguished combinatorialist. He inauguratedtheoryincidence algebras (which generalize19th-century theoryMöbius inversion), setumbral calculus onrigorous foundation, unifiedtheorySheffer sequencespolynomial sequencesbinomial type,worked on fundamental problemsprobability theory.
External link
