Charles François Sturm was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 29, 1803. He obtained his scientific education in this city and began his rich scientific career there through significant research in sound propagation and compressibility of fluids. In September of 2003, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth, his home city honoured his worldwide recognition with a colloquium and workshop under the sponsorship of the University of Geneva.

This volume is based on lectures presented at that colloquium, which focused on C.F. Sturm's own work. The book contains a selection of reproductions of his scientific publications. Sturm contributed notably to geometry (theory of polygons, elementary geometry, projective geometry, conic sections), algebra, analysis (differential equations, series), optics (caustics, physiological optics), mechanics, and other areas of physics (particularly fluid mechanics and speed of sound in water).