Who are the 10 greatest mathematicians in human history?

However, among all these individuals, a few mathematical geniuses made significant contributions to the field with their revolutionary discoveries that changed the world.

Pythagoras (Pythagoras) – (570- 495 BC)

Many people will remember Pythagoras as a mathematician, not as a charismatic cult leader. But fundamentally the two go hand in hand. Founded in the 6th century BC, the Pythagorean School was a philosophical school and religious movement based on the beliefs and teachings of its enigmatic founder, Pythagoras, and his followers, the Pythagoreans.

Today, we remember its name with the Pythagorean theorem of the form a²+b²=c², which you encounter in questions about right triangles. The interesting thing is that before Pythagoras, this rule was known by the Egyptians, Sumerians and Chinese. Moreover, Pythagoras and the Ancient Greeks never considered this theorem as an algebraic equation.

Pythagoras of Samos was born around 570 BC to Mnesarchus, a jewel engraver, and Pythias, a descendant of the wealthy and aristocratic Geomori family. Ancient sources record that Pythagoras was educated by Anaximander and various legendary pre-Socratic philosophers, such as Bias of Priene and Thales of Miletus, two of the seven sages.

Pythagoras traveled throughout the Near East in his early adulthood. According to sources, he went to Babylon, Phoenicia, and Egypt. Accounts of Pythagoras traveling to Babylon and Phoenicia are controversial. However, all sources agree that he traveled to Egypt. According to estimates, he also learned information about the Pythagorean theorem in this process.

Euclid

Euclid, who wrote one of the most important works in mathematics ever, is known as the Father of Geometry. Information about Euclid's birth date and life is insufficient. It is thought that he studied at the Athens Academy founded by Plato. Euclid's field of study can be examined in two parts: basic geometry and general mathematics.

In addition to his most important book, Elements, it is known that he wrote articles on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, mathematical astronomy, and number theory. Unfortunately, only 5 of these works have survived to the present day.

Euclid's Elements is considered one of the most influential mathematics books of all time. This book was used as a geometry textbook until the early 20th century.

Archimedes (Archimedes) (287–212 BC)

Archimedes was a genius of the ancient world and one of the greatest mathematicians and engineers history has ever witnessed. Today, his name is mostly associated with the invention of the Archimedes principle, the Archimedes screw, and various "super weapons" of the ancient world. Perhaps less well-known is that Archimedes is considered the greatest mathematician of antiquity. That's why his profile adorns the Fields Medal today.

Archimedes was born in the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. His father was an astronomer named Phidias. He was educated in Alexandria, Egypt, arguably the intellectual center of the ancient world. Archimedes was an engineer, mathematical theorist, astronomer, and inventor. He was an expert at using mathematics in practical matters.

Archimedes published his works in the form of correspondence with leading mathematicians of his time, including the Alexandrian scholars Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene. For this reason, most of his writings are lost today.

He was killed by a soldier when the city he lived in fell to the Roman legions. Historians sometimes regard his death as the end of an era. He was the last scientist to shine before the Roman Empire took control of the ancient world.

Muhammad Bin Musa Al Khwarezmi (780-850)

Known as the discoverer of algebra, Khwarezmi was a scholar, astronomer, and theologian. His works on mathematics, which have survived to this day, have a great impact on both the Islamic and Christian worlds. The word algorithm is derived from the Latin version of Al-Khwarizmi's name. It is thought that he was born in a region within the borders of Uzbekistan today and spent his later years in Baghdad.

One of his most important contributions is his description of the Indian number system in a book he wrote. This book, which was popular then, later reached Europe through Fibonacci. In this way, this number system replaced Roman numerals over time.

Leonardo Pisano Bigollo ( 1170- 1250)

Leonardo Pisano was born in Pisa, Italy, probably in 1170. Although we know him as Fibonacci, he was not known as Fibonacci (“son of Bonacci”) until long after his death. Leonardo made many trips with his father, who was a diplomat. For this reason, he studied at an accounting school in Bugia, North Africa, for a while.

At that time he encountered Indo-Arabic number symbols. He was impressed by the simplicity of these numerals compared to Roman numerals. He later explained these figures in his book Liber Abaci, which he wrote in 1202. His work has attracted widespread attention. In this way, he made a very important contribution to the development of modern mathematics.

A sequence of numbers occurs over and over again in the natural world. In this sequence, each number is the sum of the previous two (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc.). Although this sequence was actually noticed by the Indian scholar Pingala around 200 BC, it is now known as the Fibonacci sequence. The reason for this is that he examined the features of this series in detail in the book he wrote. The sequence has important predictive applications in nature, geometry, and business.

René Descartes (1596-1650)

Rene Descartes is most famous for his contributions to philosophy, particularly for developing the idea of the duality of mind and body. He said, “I think; He is known for his saying "Therefore I am". However, much of the mathematics we use today owes a lot to Descartes. Descartes' primary contribution to mathematics was in the development of analytic geometry.

Throughout the history of mathematics until Descartes, there was always a distinction between algebra and geometry. On the one hand, there was the symbolic and abstract world of numbers and unknown quantities, and on the other hand, there were shapes and solid objects. Descartes' analytic geometry united these two fields. He pioneered the idea of representing algebraic forms and equations using geometric lines and curves in a coordinate plane. This combination of geometry and algebra would enable the development of calculus.

Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and Gottfried Leibniz (1646 – 1716)

We should mention these two names together in our list in terms of their contributions to mathematics. The list of famous mathematicians cannot be complete without Newton. Newton went down in history as the inventor of calculus, which he developed to develop physics theories.

Meanwhile, Leibniz carried out the same work in Germany, without the knowledge of Newton. Of course, this situation caused long-term discussions between the two mathematicians and even between the two countries. However, many of the symbols we use today come from Leibniz's work.

Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855)

A must on the list of mathematicians, Gauss, also known as the "Prince of Mathematics", showed mathematical talents at an early age. When he was five years old, he was handling his father's accounts. The fate of both him and mathematics changed when the Duke of the region discovered his talent and took him under his protection. He entered the University of Göttingen in 1795.

In 1798, he constructed a regular hendecagon (a 17-sided polygon) using only a ruler and compasses. This was the greatest advance in polygon construction since Euclid's geometry nearly 2000 years ago.

Gauss laid the foundations of number theory in his book Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (Arithmetic Investigations), which he wrote at the age of 21. Another of Gauss's discoveries was the fundamental theorem of algebra, a fundamental result regarding the existence of roots of polynomials of complex variables. Gauss was undoubtedly one of the rare mathematics masters who will be remembered throughout human history. However, he kept many of his ideas to himself; A large number of his unpublished papers were discovered after his death.

Leonhard Euler (1707- 1783)

If we point out Gauss as the "Prince of Mathematics", Euler is its king. One of the first contributions of Euler, who is also known as the Einstein of his age in the field of mathematics in terms of his genius, was the representations he provided to mathematical expressions.

Among them are the function sign (f(x)); definitions of trigonometric functions (sin, cos, tan); The sign of the awesome “Euler Number”, which is the base of the natural logarithm, is “e”; Greek letter Sigma (Ʃ), used for total calculations; There is the sign of "i", which is the sign of imaginary numbers, and π, the sign of the number pi, which expresses the ratio of the circumference of the circle to its diameter.

Euler, who also claimed that he could perform a complete mathematical proof in between two meals, carried out numerous studies on calculus, topology, number theory, analysis and graph theory, and laid the most important cornerstones of the roads leading to today's mathematics. Euler, whose entire body of work exceeds 70 volumes, went down in history as the most productive mathematician of the ages.

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

French mathematician Blaise Pascal, like many people on this list, contributed to many areas of mathematics. We know it best by the Pascal Triangle that bears its name. Pascal's triangle is fertile ground for various branches of mathematics, including algebra, number theory, probability, and combinatorics (the mathematics of counting and arranging). He also developed one of the first mechanical calculators in the world. Pascal is also one of the creators of probability theory.

Our list was only about 10 mathematicians, but the number of mathematicians who shaped the history of mathematics and science is of course much more than that.