Leonhard Euler
15 April 1707 – 18 September 1783
Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, widely considered one of the greatest and most prolific mathematicians in history. Working mainly in Saint Petersburg and Berlin, he made foundational contributions to analysis, number theory, graph theory, mechanics, and astronomy, and introduced much of modern mathematical notation, including the symbol e and the function notation f(x). He continued to produce major work even after becoming almost totally blind.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Leonhard Euler.
- Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788) Overlapped 76 years →
- John Wesley (1703–1791) Overlapped 76 years →
- Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) Overlapped 76 years →
- Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782) Overlapped 75 years →
- Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) Overlapped 74 years →
- Jacques de Vaucanson (1709–1782) Overlapped 73 years →
Life events
Leonhard Euler was born in Basel, the son of a Reformed Church pastor.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEuler enrolled at the University of Basel at age 13, where his talent was recognized and nurtured by Johann Bernoulli.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEuler took a post at the newly founded Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, where he soon headed the mathematics department.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEuler married Katharina Gsell in Saint Petersburg; the couple had thirteen children, five of whom survived childhood.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEuler proved that no walk could cross each of Konigsberg's seven bridges exactly once, a result regarded as the beginning of graph theory and topology.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAt the invitation of Frederick the Great, Euler moved to Berlin, where he worked for 25 years and wrote hundreds of papers.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEuler's two-volume introduction to analysis laid the foundations of the modern theory of functions and infinite series.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEuler went back to the Saint Petersburg Academy, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAfter a cataract in his remaining good eye, Euler lost nearly all his sight around 1771 but, aided by assistants and a prodigious memory, kept publishing at a remarkable rate.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEuler died of a brain hemorrhage in Saint Petersburg while discussing the newly discovered planet Uranus.
Source: en.wikipedia.org