Antoine-Augustin Cournot

Antoine-Augustin Cournot was a French philosopher and mathematician who also contributed to the development of economics. He was born in Gray, Haute-Saône, in 1801. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure and the Sorbonne University, where he obtained a degree in mathematics. He then worked as a private secretary for a field marshal, and later as a professor of mathematics, a chief examiner, and a rector of Dijon Academy. He published several books and articles on mathematics, mechanics, astronomy, and law. Cournot was the first economist who, with competent knowledge of both subjects, endeavoured to apply mathematics to the treatment of economics. His main work in economics is Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth (1838), in which he used formulas and symbols to express economic relationships. He introduced the ideas of functions and probability into economic analysis, and derived the first formula for the rule of supply and demand as a function of price. He also drew supply and demand curves on a graph, anticipating the work of Alfred Marshall by roughly thirty years. He developed the Cournot duopoly model, which introduced the concept of a Nash equilibrium, the reaction function, and best-response dynamics. He believed that mathematics could help establish probable limits and express less stable facts in more absolute terms. Cournot also worked on determinism and chance in physics and philosophy. He wrote several books on these topics, such as Exposition de la théorie des chances et des probabilités (1843), Traité élémentaire de la théorie des fonctions et du calcul infinitésimal (1841), Essai sur les fondements de nos connaissances et sur les caractères de la critique philosophique (1851), and Considérations sur la marche des idées et des événements dans les temps modernes (1872). Cournot received several honors and awards for his contributions to mathematics and economics. He was elected to the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques in 1877. He was also awarded the Legion of Honour in 1895. He died in Paris in 1877 at the age of 75.