Belgian canon and mathematician, born in Visé, Principality of Liège, now Belgium, known for having written many books on mathematics. He studied at the University of Louvain (1638-1642) and then went to Rome where he received a law degree from the University of Sapienza (1643). Afterwards he studied various subjects such as languages, mathematics and astronomy, especially Italian mathematics.
He worked in calculus, having studied the works of Cavalieri and Torricelli and, in particular, in Rome, worked on the equation for the cycloid. He became canon in the church (1650), and returned to Liège. His knowledge of law helped him to progress within the Church and quickly gained positions of influence. He became a member of the private council of the Bishop of Liège (1659) and abbot of Amay (1666). Because of his ecclesiastical activities, his contact with other mathematicians was often made by correspondence.
Through these many regular correspondences with mathematicians in England, France and other European countries, among them Pascal, Huygens, Wallis and Ricci, discussing spirals, inflection points, geometric centroids, etc. He applied the theories of Descartes and Fermat to determine tangents and function points and promoted the dissemination of geometry Cartesian and published a book that became quite popular, Mesolabum (1659), on geometric constructions of the roots of the equations. T
he also published Philosophical Transactions (1673) of the Royal Society, his remarkable discoveries (1652-1660), on tangent calculations. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (1674) and died in Liège. However he did not write exclusively in mathematics, but in astronomy, physics, natural history, history and theological subjects connected with his work in the church.
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Order R - Biography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/rene-francois-walter.htm