Antoine Augustin Cournot (nonfiction)
Antoine Augustin Cournot (28 August 1801 – 31 March 1877) was a French philosopher and mathematician who also contributed to the development of economics theory.
Cournot was mainly a mathematician, but did have some influence over economics. His theories on monopolies and duopolies are still famous.
Cournot introduced the ideas of functions and probability into economic analysis.
He derived the first formula for the rule of supply and demand as a function of price and in fact was the first to draw supply and demand curves on a graph, anticipating the work of Alfred Marshall by roughly thirty years.
Cournot believed that economists must utilize the tools of mathematics only to establish probable limits and to express less stable facts in more absolute terms. He further held that the practical uses of mathematics in economics do not necessarily involve strict numerical precision.
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External links:
- Antoine Augustin Cournot @ Wikipedia