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- The Pythagorean Theorem. This theorem is foundational to our understanding of geometry. It describes the relationship between the sides of a right triangle on a flat plane: square the lengths of the short sides, a and b, add those together, and you get the square of the length of the long side, c.
- Logarithms. Logarithms are the inverses, or opposites, of exponential functions. A logarithm for a particular base tells you what power you need to raise that base to to get a number.
- Calculus. The formula given here is the definition of the derivative in calculus. The derivative measures the rate at which a quantity is changing. For example, we can think of velocity, or speed, as being the derivative of position - if you are walking at 3 miles (4.8 km) per hour, then every hour, you have changed your position by 3 miles.
- Law of Gravity. Newton's law of gravitation describes the force of gravity between two objects, F, in terms of a universal constant, G, the masses of the two objects, m1 and m2, and the distance between the objects, r. Newton's law is a remarkable piece of scientific history - it explains, almost perfectly, why the planets move in the way they do.
- Pythagoras (570 - 490 BC) The ancient Greek, Pythagoras, is one of the most famous and well-known mathematicians in all of history. He is best known for the Pythagorean Theorem, which continues to serve as one of the cornerstones of the field of geometry.
- Euclid (325 - 265 BC) As a mathematician in ancient Alexandria, Euclid's foundational textbook, 'Elements', unified and expanded the theories and understandings of mathematics and geometry from his time.
- Hypatia (355 - 415 AD) As the first female mathematician whose life and workings are well-recorded, Hypatia is known for making significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy.
- Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi (780 - 850 AD) The famous Persian scholar, Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, made countless profound and lasting contributions to mathematical thought, especially in the field of algebra.
May 2, 2024 · In this A to Z glossary, you'll find fundamental math concepts ranging from absolute value to zero slope. There's also a bit of history, with terms named after famous mathematicians.
- Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
- Thales of Miletus. Modern Turkey, 626–548 B.C.E. Thales of Miletus used geometry to calculate the heights of pyramids and measure the distance from ships to the shore.
- Pythagoras. Greece, 570–500 B.C.E. Pythagoras (remember his geometry theorem?) was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and more. His ideas had a big impact on Western philosophy and the development of mathematics.
- Euclid. Egypt, c. 325–265 B.C.E. If you’ve studied geometry, you’ve heard of Euclid. He was known as the Father of Geometry. Euclid’s most famous work is The Elements, his writing about mathematics.
- Aristotle. Greece, 384–322 B.C.E. Aristotle is known for being a philosopher, but he was also one of the most famous mathematicians (and also studied geology and medicine, among other things).
- Srinivasa Ramanujan
- Joseph-Louis Lagrange
- Andrew Wiles
- Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
- Alan Turing
- G.F. Bernhard Riemann
- Henri Poincaré
- David Hilbert
- Fibonacci
- Bernoulli Family
Known For: Ramanujan–Petersson conjecture, Ramanujan’s master theorem Srinivasa Ramanujan was perhaps the most remarkable mathematician in modern India. Although Ramanujan had no formal training, his advanced mathematical knowledge at a very young age left many completely awestruck. By the age of 16, he had independently developed and studied Berno...
Known For: Lagrangian mechanics, Celestial Mechanics, Number Theory Joseph Lagrange was one of the most notable students of the great Leonhard Euler. Lagrange started his mathematical career with variational calculus (in 1754), which led to the formulation of the Euler–Lagrange equation. Lagrange later reformulated classical mechanics, introducing ...
Accolades: Wolf Prize (1995/6); Abel Prize(2016) Sir Andrew John Wiles, a prominent British mathematician, gained widespread recognition for resolving Fermat’s Last Theorem, once regarded as the “most challenging mathematical problem.” In 1975, under the guidance of John H. Coates, Andrew Wiles started working on the Iwasawa theory, which he contin...
Known For: Jacobi’s elliptic functions; Jacobi transform Carl Gustav Jacobi was one of the prominent mathematicians of the 19th century. His formulation of the theory of elliptic functionsis perhaps his greatest contribution to the field. Jacobi played a key role in advancing the study of differential equations and rational mechanics, notably contr...
Known For: Cryptanalysis of the Enigma, Turing’s proof Accolades:Smith’s Prize (1936) During the Second World War, the German intelligence network was considered almost impenetrable. Many allied nations feared that if they could not intercept important transmissions by the Nazi high command, they might eventually lose the war. It was Alan Turing wh...
Bernhard Riemann Known For: Riemann integral, Fourier series Georg Bernhard Riemann was born in a small village near Dannenberg, Germany. Under the tutelage of Carl Friedrich Gauss, Riemann studied differential geometry and developed his theory of higher dimensions. His work is now known as Riemannian geometry. Johann Gustav Dirichlet also played a...
Henry Poincaré along with Marie Curie at the 1911 Solvay Conference Known For: Three-body problem, Chaos theory, Poincaré–Hopf theorem According to Eric Bell, a notable Scottish Mathematician, Henri Poincare was probably one of the last Universalists, as he thrived in almost all known fields of mathematics at that time. Poincare, during his lifetim...
David Hilbert in his Göttingen home | Image Courtesy: idw-online.de Known For: Proof theory, Hilbert’s problems David Hilbert was perhaps one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He was instrumental in developing fundamental theories in the field of commutative algebra, calculus of variations, and mathematical physics. Hilbert’s problems (a ...
Known For: Fibonacci numbers Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo of Pisa, was one of the most accomplished mathematicians of the High Middle Ages. Perhaps his most significant contribution to the subject is Liber Abaci, a personal book through which he popularized the Indo-Arabic numeral system (0,1,2,3,4..) and the Fibonacci sequence in Europe. Toda...
In the world of mathematics, the Bernoulli family holds the highest place. Originating from Antwerp, Belgium, Jacob and his brother Johann Bernoulli were the pioneering mathematicians in the Bernoulli lineage. Both Jacob and Johann worked together on infinitesimal calculus and are credited for theorems and justifications such as Bernoulli numbers a...
Apr 16, 2024 · Mathematical formulas and theories helped lay the foundation for many inventions and scientific breakthroughs. From ancient philosophers to pioneering women, we recognize and honor some of the most famous mathematicians of all time.
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Sep 23, 2024 · Thanks to the concepts laid out by these famous mathematicians, scientists can now do their important work. You might disagree but mathematics plays a big role in changing the world, one solution at a time.
