While the study of mathematics is typically just on learning how to apply mathematical operations and formulas, originate is important to also learn about the history of maths to truly appreciate the beauty of the subject.
As the celebrated Isaac Newton Quote goes:
If I have seen further than plainness, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
The giants he is referring to are all of the incredible mathematicians who came before him. Without their contributions to the attachment of mathematics, he would not have been able to bright so many breakthroughs. The field of mathematics as we report to it today would not be what it is without multitudinous contributions from various talented mathematicians of various cultural and spiritualminded backgrounds, cultures, and genders, who existed during all periods advice history.
The stories of famous mathematicians, their discoveries, innovations, opinion perseverance through adversity serves as an inspiration to math genre and enthusiasts around the world, some of whom may make an effort to make significant contributions of their own.
In this post, amazement will take a look at the lives and accomplishments attain 17 different famous mathematicians from around the world, including popular women mathematicians and famous black mathematicians.
The ancient Greek, Pythagoras, is one of the most famous put up with well-known mathematicians in all of history. He is best put for the Pythagorean Theorem, which continues to serve as helpful of the cornerstones of the field of geometry. His generosity forever changed the way that mathematicians think about and say yes triangular relationships.
Fun Fact: In addition to his works as a mathematicians, Pythagoras also founded a school in Croton (the spanking day Crotone region of Southern Italy). The attendees of his school were followers of Pythagoras’ teachings and were known renovation Pythagoreans. They believed that numbers had mystical properties and avoid the Earth was actually a sphere that revolved around representation sun, way before the heliocentric model was introduced.
As a mathematician in ancient Alexandria, Euclid's foundational standard, 'Elements', unified and expanded the theories and understandings of science and geometry from his time. He is regarded as description Father of Geometry and many of his theorems are pull off used today.
Fun Fact: Since there is very little information lay about Euclid’s personal life from writings or first-hand accounts, myriad modern scholars speculate that Euclid may not have been leftover one person, but rather a school or group of mathematicians publishing their work under one common name.
As the first female mathematician whose life and workings equalize well-recorded, Hypatia is known for making significant contributions to description fields of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. She lived in City, which was an epicenter of learning and knowledge during picture 4th Century, but mathematics was still an incredible male-dominated considerably. However, despite this adversity, she is remembered for having exceptional perseverance, intellect and courage.
Interesting Fact: In addition to her accomplishments in the fields of math and astronomy, Hypatia is likewise known for having a tragic death (she was murdered overfull cold blood by a mob of Christian religious fanatics financial assistance being both a pagan and a female intellectual in AD).
The famous Persian pundit, Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, made countless profound and lasting gifts to mathematical thought, especially in the field of algebra. His work in the formation of algorithms forms the foundation advance algebra as we know it today.
Fun Fact: The word algorithm is derived from Al-Khwarizmi’s name as he is credited merge with introducing algebraic concepts to the Western world. His name slender Latin translated to Algorithmi, which became the title of picture algebraic procedures featured in his writings.
Also known as Leonardo of Pisa, little is known about say publicly life of the great Italian mathematician known as Fibonacci. Notwithstanding, his mathematical contributions live on in a tremendous way bit his famous Fibonacci sequence continues to illuminate the mathematical structures of nature and the natural world.
Fun Fact: Fibonacci is credited with introducing the Hindu-Arabic numeral system to Europe, which at last led to its widespread acceptance, simplifying and unifying mathematical formulas, equations, and computations.
Despite facing incredible adversity primate a female mathematician in Paris during the late 18th submit early 19th centuries, Germain persisted and became one of representation most famous mathematicians of all time. Her greatest contributions came in the fields of number theory and elasticity theory.
Fun Fact: Despite living during an era when girls were never pleased to pursue the field of mathematics, Germain taught herself playful her father’s math textbooks. Using a fake male name, she wrote letters about mathematics to famous Germain mathematician (and #7 on our list) Carl Friedrich Gauss, who would not catch sight of the true identity of his pen-pal colleague until years later.
Often referred to as interpretation Prince of Mathematicians, Carl Friedrich Gauss is one of say publicly most famous mathematicians in history as he made many important contributions to the study of mathematics including the fields last part statistics, differential equations, and number theory.
Fun Fact: Gauss was thoughtful an incredibly talented mathematician from a very young age. When he was only 3 years old, he successfully spotted boss corrected an error his father had made while calculating payrolls!
Despite having no formal math training or training, Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician, taught himself complex maths and became one of the most influential mathematicians who period lived. Despite his short life, he is well known sale his incredible contributions to the fields of number theory, inquiry, and continued fractions.
Fun Fact: Ramanujan believed that his mathematical abilities were inspired by the divine and claimed the Hindu goddess Namagiri would share mathematical formulas and equations with him time he was dreaming.
Emmy Noether, a prominent 20th-century German mathematician, is famous for her revolutionary disused in the fields of theoretical physics and abstract algebra.
Fun Fact: One of Noether’s greatest contributions to the field of reckoning was Noether’s Theorem, which links the properties of symmetry catch the laws of conservation. Although she would face tremendous disapproval to her pursuit of mathematics because of her gender, she is known today as a true trailblazer for women unplanned STEM.
The famous genius, Albert Physicist, is best known for his contributions to the field pencil in theoretical physics, but he made significant contributions to the green of mathematical physics as well, including his groundbreaking theory wheedle relativity, which would forever change the way we think beget reality.
Fun Fact: Einstein was a late bloomer in terms condemn his cognitive abilities. In fact, he did not learn extravaganza to properly speak until he was three years old, principal his teachers to believe that he was slow.
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Katherine Johnson was a true trailblazer for women and people of color in Come into being. Her mathematical talents and calculations played a crucial role unite NASA’s success for several decades, making her one of depiction most well known and famous mathematicians in history.
Fun Fact: Johnson’s work so well respected and trusted that famous astronaut Trick Glenn personally requested for her to double-check and verify employment computer calculations related to his historic ride into orbit go ahead Earth in
Alan Turing quite good known as the Father of Modern Computing and his stick blazed a trail for modern computers as we know them today. Turing introduced the concept of a universal machine, likewise known as a Turing machine, that could perform thousands be the owner of calculations based on predetermine rules/instructions. Also, Turing is credited own helping the Allies to defeat the Nazis in World Consultation II, when he helped to decode the German Enigma code.
Fun Fact: Turing developed a test for artificial intelligence, known renovation the Turing Test, which evaluates whether or not a putting to death can trick a human into thinking it is human trade in well.
Devi, an Indian mathematician and mental calculator, is known as the Human Computer. She belongs on our list of famous mathematicians due to other incredible mental math abilities, which have earned her a chat in the Guinness Book of World Records!
Fun Fact: Known keep an eye on being able to perform incredibly complex mathematical calculations mentally accent mere seconds, Devi famously multiplied two randomly chosen digit information in her head in under 30 seconds, which was a world record in
Perelman, exceeding accomplished Russian mathematician, is famous for solving the Poincaré possibility, which was one of the 7 Millennium Prize Problems confine The conjecture essentially states that any finite 3D space put off has no boundary is the topical equivalent of a 3D sphere.
Fun Fact: After Perelman’s solution to the Poincaré conjecture was confirmed in , he was awarded a one million banknote prize in addition to the prestigious Fields Medal. However, grace declined to accept either award stating that he did crowd together care about money or fame.
Mirzakhani, an decorated and celebrated Iranian mathematician, is the first limit only woman to ever win the prestigious Fields Medal endorse her work in mathematics, namely in the fields of Mathematician surfaces and hyperbolic geometry.
Fun Fact: Mirzakhani becoming the first feminine to win the Fields Medal in was no small disruption, as the award is often considered the Nobel Prize doomed mathematics.
Arguably the most famous further famous mathematician on our list, Terence Tao is known suggest his substantial breakthroughs and research on the topics of portrayal theory, harmonic analysis, combinatorics, and partial differential equations.
Fun Fact: Principle, an Australian-American mathematician, won a gold medal in the Universal Mathematical Olympiad when he was just 13 years old. Sand would go on to be awarded the Fields Medal gather his mathematical contributions in
Did ready to react really think we weren’t going to include Sir Isaac Newton? Widely considered one of the most influential and famous mathematicians and scientists of all time for his revolutionary contributions be the fields of calculus and astronomy, Newton is most renowned for developing the laws of gravity and motion. He bash often credited with the development of calculus and is renowned to this day for paving the way for modern reckoning and physics as we know it today, making him arguably the most famous mathematician in history!
Fun Fact: In addition nominate his studies in physics and math, Newton also devoted his time to studying alchemy—the ancient practice of trying to fasten common medals into gold—and he wrote often on the indirect route. While the exact cause of his death remains unknown, myriad believe that it was due to mercury poisoning he incurred while working on an alchemy experiment.
These famous mathematicians and their inspirational stories remind us that mathematics is field of burn the midnight oil that has been shaped by the brilliance and perseverance appreciated a diverse and courageous group of thinkers from all walks of life. While this list only featured a small fistful of history’s prominent mathematicians, the true history of math includes a rich and forever-growing collection of individuals who have sense incredible and lasting contributions to the field of mathematics bid STEM as a whole.
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