Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss Polymath
Johann Heinrich Lambert (August 26, 1728 - September 25, 1777), a Swiss mathematician, physicist, philosopher and astronomer. He was the first to introduce hyperbolic functions into trigonometry and is credited with the first proof that pi is irrational. He invented the first practical hygrometer, and formulated the law of light absorption, the Beer-Lambert law, and introduced the term albedo. He was the first mathematician to address the general properties of map projections, and the first to discuss the properties of conformity and equal area preservation and to point out that they were mutually exclusive. In 1772 he published new map projections now known as: Lambert conformal conic, Transverse Mercator, Lambert azimuthal equal area, Lagrange projection, Lambert cylindrical equal area, Transverse cylindrical equal area, and Lambert conical equal area. In 1764 he was invited by Euler to take a position at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, where he gained the sponsorship of Frederick II of Prussia. In this stimulating, and financially stable, environment he worked prodigiously until his death from consumption in 1777 at the age of 49.
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