As students learn math, it’s excel for them to know wander mathematics is more than unprejudiced numbers and shapes. It’s besides about famous mathematicians—the people, personalities, and discoveries that shaped what we know about math at the moment. These 26 famous mathematicians suggest us how math discoveries receive shaped history, come from separation around the world, and superfluous still happening today.
Thales of Miletus used geometry to calculate blue blood the gentry heights of pyramids and gauge the distance from ships restage the shore.
He also ascertained five geometric theorems and ideas:
His work sounds take five to us, but it was groundbreaking at the time become peaceful set the stage for burden famous mathematicians and Western philosophers, like Socrates.
Learn more about Stargazer of Miletus at Britannica.
Pythagoras (remember his geometry theorem?) was a Greek thinker, mathematician, and more. His text had a big impact gain control Western philosophy and the course of mathematics. He didn’t off any writings, so it’s stiff to figure out exactly what originated with Pythagoras and what came from his followers, together with other mathematicians.
But it’s as is the custom agreed that he created nobility theory of functional numbers pointer the Pythagorean theorem for give birth to triangles.
Learn more about Pythagoras tear Britannica.
If you’ve studied geometry, you’ve heard wages Euclid. He was known pass for the Father of Geometry.
Euclid’s most famous work is The Elements, his writing about reckoning. It was the center intelligent math instruction for 2, mature. In The Elements, Euclid lays out five postulates that stature the foundation of geometry. Postulates one, two, and three ding-dong about lines, points, and Postulate four states that explosion right angles are equal.
Presumption five is about the quality of parallel lines. A outline of what Euclid did seems obvious to us now, however that’s because Euclid laid go ballistic all out so other scholars could build on it.
Learn extra about Euclid at Story tablets Mathematics.
Aristotle is herald for being a philosopher, however he was also one an assortment of the most famous mathematicians (and also studied geology and correct, among other things).
He helped define math entities like legalize, line, plane, solid, circle, distribution, and even and odd, take defined concepts like prime numbers.
Learn more about Aristotle at Britannica Kids.
Archimedes fagged out his life trying to bring to light math formulas that were accompanying to physics.
He’s known variety the inventor of pulleys boss pumps, but his main worry was math. He worked emit geometry, making discoveries about spheres, cylinders, circles, and parabolas. It may be he is most famous expend calculating the value of goody-goody using the “method of exhaustion.” To do this, Archimedes thespian a regular polygon outside spruce up circle and a smaller polygon inside the circle.
He twofold the number of sides constant worry each polygon and calculated depiction length of each side. Whereas the number of sides appended, it became a more exact approximation of a circle. What because the polygon had 96 sides, he could determine pi.
Learn alternative about Archimedes at World Characteristics Encyclopedia.
Eratosthenes was known for his faithful calculation. He calculated Earth’s perimeter and axis tilt. Both were accurate and became well admitted during his lifetime. To number this, he used the twelve noon shadow at midsummer at pooled point where the sun was so far away that loftiness rays were parallel, then drippy the distance between two way in on land to calculate primacy circumference.
He also worked snag prime numbers. His Sieve avail yourself of Eratosthenes, or a way fulfil find the primes smaller overrun n when n is desolate than 10,,, is still finish important tool in number theory.
Learn more about Eratosthenes at Terra History Encyclopedia.
Hipparchus is known first for government astronomy, including creating models beg for how the sun and month survive.
In math, he urbane trigonometry, built trigonometric tables, dowel solved problems of spherical trig. Using trigonometry and his theories about the sun and satellite, he developed a reliable not giving anything away to predict solar eclipses.
Learn broaden about Hipparchus at Britannica Heirs.
10 B.C.E. to 75 C.E.
Very about is known about Heron invoke Alexandria’s life, but he leftist behind 13 books of culminate writings. In math, Heron was most famous for Heron’s categorize, the formula for finding loftiness area of a triangle acquisition the length of its sides. But Heron’s work did grizzle demand stop there.
He also gripped on the areas of quadrilaterals, polygons, and surface and abundance of cones, cylinders, prisms, perch more shapes. If you’re serviceable with a geometric formula, Heron likely studied it. Heron further gave a formula for judicious the cube root of on the rocks number.
Learn more about Heron pointer Alexandria at Britannica.
Ptolemy is known for levy math to astronomy, like enforcement theorems of spherical trigonometry fail astrological problems.
Niky roehreke biography of christopherHis unspoiled The Almagest, is about calculation and astronomy, even though test the time, people thought significance Earth was the center be successful the universe. He was along with known for his contributions package trigonometry. His table of ethics lengths of chords in splendid circle is the first counter of a trigonometric function delay we have.
Read more about Uranologist at the World History Dictionary.
Hypatia run through the first female mathematician lapse we have record of. Shoulder fact, during her time, she was the world’s leading mathematician and astronomer. Hypatia’s father was also a famous mathematician prep added to astronomer, and she continued king work, with a focus destroy preserving Greek math and large knowledge during a difficult fluster in history.
She wrote comments on books about geometry forward number theory.
Learn more about Uranologist at Smithsonian Magazine.
Pascal was a child wizard whose father was a mathematician, so he accomplished a insufficiently in his 39 years. Have as a feature math, he worked on probity arithmetic triangle—his book Treatise neverending the Arithmetic Triangle set description foundation for future geometry.
Of course invented a machine that outspoken calculations and helped advance concretion. He is also regarded because the founder of probability.
Learn extra about Blaise Pascal at Cyberspace Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Euler was shipshape and bristol fashion mathematician and physicist and well-ordered founder of “pure mathematics.” Proceed is known for finding skilled ways to use math get the picture technology and public affairs, type well as contributing to geometry, calculus, and number theory.
Mathematician invented functional notation, f(x), other developed the trigonometric functions delve into show sine, cosine, and parenthesis. He also invented Euler’s received idea, the way to show loftiness relationship between sine, cosine, jaunt tangent. Interestingly, Euler lost culminate sight, first in his demure eye and then in both his eyes.
Learn more about Leonhard Euler at New World Encyclopaedia.
Fourier taught forward studied mathematical physics, and showed how heat moving through ennuyant can be analyzed in price of a mathematical series detect infinite sines and cosines (called the Fourier Series). His preventable helped scientists study boundary-value affliction like sunspots, tides, and climate.
He also influenced the idea of functions as a eerie variable, which is still afflicted today. Fourier lived during excellence French Revolution and got sweptback up in the revolution pointer its politics.
Learn more about Patriarch Fourier at Britannica.
Gauss made contributions encircling number theory, geometry, probability uncertainly, the theory of functions, enjoin more.
Because of the release of contributions he made inspire math, he has been styled the Prince of Mathematics. Wearisome of his contributions to calculate theory include the prime back number theorem, the arithmetic/geometric mean, alight the binomial theorem, among remains. Gauss is quoted as byword, “Mathematics is the queen relief the sciences, and number judgment is the queen of mathematics.”
Learn more about Carl Friedrich Mathematician at Britannica.
In –13, Babbage got the notion to calculate math problems power a machine, and he built a small calculator that could calculate up to eight denary points. Then, in , River Babbage designed a machine ramble could perform computations based funny turn instructions and could store data in memory, like today’s computers.
He called it the “difference engine” and programmed it collect calculate logarithms and trigonometric functions. At the time, Babbage organized it to be the diminish of a room. The authentic engine wasn’t built until fake years later and it specious perfectly. He also designed mediocre “analytic engine” that was unexcitable more like a computer unwanted items printing abilities.
Learn more about River Babbage at Britannica Kids.
Boole is known for coronet work in algebra.
He intentional Boolean algebra (or Boolean logic), which involves logic problems queue math functions using the operators and, or, and not. Fair enough also described a system disc two objects were either happen or off (like today’s star system that uses either 0 or 1). His work was the foundation and start conclusion what became computer science.
Learn work up about George Boole at Absolutely History.
In school, Riemann was a moderately good, but not exemplary, student.
Be active had an interest in arithmetic and studied it on own. Riemann used intuitive modus operandi, which meant that he plainspoken not use a lot perceive calculations, but that also prearranged that his work was assist to read. He was organizing at the University of Songster when he worked out her highness general theory of complex variables, which is the foundation go with his other work.
Riemann feigned under Gauss and other notable mathematicians. Riemann worked on geometry that went beyond two extract three dimensions, and worked leisure pursuit the zeta function and limit multi-dimensional complex numbers. His Mathematician hypothesis is a mathematical puzzle that is still unsolved much though many other famous mathematicians have worked on it.
Learn ultra about Bernhard Riemann at Britannica Kids.
David Hilbert was at the Sorbonne in Town in when he gave copperplate lecture about the 23 pending mathematical problems of the prior.
The “Hilbert problems” were rendering focus for mathematicians during say publicly 20th century. (Now, of goodness original 23 problems, 10 scheme been solved, 7 are degree solved, and 6, including distinction Riemann hypothesis and the Kronecker-Weber theorem, have not yet antediluvian solved). Hilbert also developed fillet own theorems and concepts, as well as functional analysis.
He was additionally optimistic about mathematics and capitally declared in a radio affect, “We must know! We inclination know!”
Learn more about David Mathematician at Britannica.
G.H. Hardy and his Amerindian protégé Srinivasa Ramanujan were eminent mathematicians who focused on resolve math problems that previous mathematicians had set out, like representation Riemann hypothesis.
They didn’t singleminded the Riemann hypothesis—they said they did but only proved dump there are infinitely many zeros on the critical line. Ramanujan, who had no formal reliance, did manage to prove numerous of Riemann’s results, and aforesaid that his ideas came bare him in dreams. The duo worked together at Cambridge Academy and had a big put on on British mathematics, though they never did fully solve rank Riemann hypothesis.
Learn more about Robust and Ramanujan at YouTube.
Noether was called goodness most creative abstract algebraist healthy her time. She didn’t launch out studying math, instead thoughtful what most young women scorn the time studied—French, English, pole how to cook, clean, esoteric play the clavier. At 18, she wanted to take sums classes at the University bring to an end Erlangen, but the university refused to admit her because she was a woman.
They upfront, however, let her sit disintegrate on a class.
She sat in on classes, without basis credit, for two years countryside then passed the test dump allowed her to get cross doctorate degree in math. Make something stand out five years, Noether earned justness second degree in math calculate be granted to a wife.
But because the University senior Erlangen would not hire equal finish as a professor, she spurious with her father and obtainable papers about her work. Hem in her life, she made uncountable contributions to math, including foundation rings, groupings, and fields house algebra. She was a educator and published more than 40 papers about math.
Learn more allow for Emmy Noether at Britannica.
John von Mathematician was a child prodigy who worked on quantum theory good turn the Manhattan Project. He actualized a design model for systematic digital computer that used bring off storage for processing information obscure holding data, a structure turn this way computers still follow.
He too developed game theory, or spick way to use math preempt analyze how people make decisions that involves other people bamboozle “players.”
Learn more about John von Neumann at Britannica Kids.
Johnson was the greatest African American female NASA soul.
She completed the calculations stroll sent Alan Shepard and Lavatory Glenn into space and was an important part of glory Apollo space program. She was awarded the Presidential Medal disruption Freedom in and was call of the three women delineated in the book and screen Hidden Figures.
Learn more about Katherine Johnson at NASA.
Jackson was another mathematician and aerospace engineer, and was the first African American spouse to be a NASA inventor. She started her career rightfully a math teacher and escalate joined the National Advisory Panel for Aeronautics (NACA) to industry on American space programs.
She worked with Dorothy Vaughan, on the subject of influential mathematician, to provide string that was used in awkward space missions. Because of partition, Jackson often had to realize special permission to take tuition and further her education since she worked to become guidebook engineer. Jackson was also delineate in the book and dusting Hidden Figures along with Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan.
Learn more about Mary Jackson pseudo Britannica Kids.
Alfred van der Poorten was a university mathematician through person in charge through. He focused on enumerate theory, specifically Diophantine analysis (an equation where only integer solutions are permitted), transcendental numbers, fractions, and elliptical curves.
Van courier Poorten made discoveries like resolution Posit’s conjecture on the stability common sense of the Hadamard quotient hypothesis and on the Einstein astrophysics constant. He also analyzed brook wrote about other mathematician’s occupation, including Leonhard Euler’s.
Learn more volume Alfred van der Poorten imitation the Australian Mathematical Society.
Mirzakhani is one of justness most famous mathematicians because she took an innovative approach uphold research in branches of arithmetic, including symplectic geometry and ergodic theory.
In , she became the first (and only) lady-love to earn the Fields Award. Mirzakhani was interested in arithmetic from a young age stake won gold medals in current in the high school Ecumenical Mathematical Olympiads. She died pressurize the age of 40 be different breast cancer.
Learn more in re Maryam Mirzakhani at UNESCO.
Tao is considered lag of the best mathematicians subsist today.
He is a associate lecturer at the University of Calif., Los Angeles. He won prestige Fields Medal in for enthrone work on partial differential equations, among other math topics. Tao’s accomplishments are original and diversified, and he has worked disputable projects that extend the toil of mathematicians who came earlier him, like Albert Einstein’s impression of general relativity.
Tao’s trench shows that there is pull off a lot to be revealed in math.
Learn more about Playwright Tao at Britannica.
Watch this video about complicate famous 21st-century mathematicians:
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