Assignment 2 - Napoleon Bonapate

This assignment is late, and was extremely hard to find someone who wasn't done already and wasn't talked about in class. (I should get some extra credit points for this one!)

Napoleon Bonaparte is known mostly for his military endeavors and being the self-proclaimed Emperor of the French (note not France because he wasn't an absolute monarch). However, it is the thins we don't know about him that make him a great person for this assignment. Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769 and died May 5, 1821. He was trained in France as an artillery officer and quickly rose to power as a general in the French revolution. In 1799, Napoleon held a coup d'etat and became First Consul. Five years later he became the Emperor of the French. He took over most of Europe through military victories, until he fought Russia in 1812. His troops were defeated and they exiled Napoleon to Elba. He returned to France and regained his power for 100 days, only to be permanently defeated. He was watched by the British at St. Helena until he died.

Interestingly, Napoleon was a mathematician. He discovered and proved Napoleon's Theorem. Napoleon's Theorem states "if we construct equilateral triangles on the sides of any triangle (all outward or all inward), the centers of those equilateral triangles themselves form an equilateral triangle".

Now it is said that this is the most re-discovered theorem in mathematics and many others, including Rutherford, have discovered it as well, making it hard to determine who actually first discovered it. However, Napoleon was good in math at school and he was very fond of proclaiming himself the ruler and creators of things. He also had inventions in military science, such as using artillery as batteries. He also developed the army corp, which is the standard model for all large modern armies. Napoleon also invented the Napoleonic Code. The Napoleonic code was the French civil code turned into the first successful "codification", the "process of collecting and restating the law of a jurisdiction in certain areas, usually by subject, forming a legal code". There were a few legal "codes" before the Napoleonic code, in Bavaria and Prussia, but this was the first working one. This code became the foundation of the French State. Historians have said that this was "one of the few documents which have influenced the whole world".



http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath270/kmath270.htm
http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24223
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Code