Daniel Augusto da Silva, Poet of Mathematics

Abstract

Daniel da Silva was a remarkable Scientist and Mathematician of the mid 19th century. Working in Portugal, isolated from the main scientific centres of the time, his investigations in pure mathematics had almost no impact. Apart from giving a short biography of his life and work, this article makes the case for considering him an unavoidable character in the History of Science and one of the founders of Discrete Mathematics, through his introduction of a key method in Enumerative Combinatorics: the Principle of Inclusion-Exclusion.