6 Famous Mathematicians Everyone

Should Know
René Descartes (March 31, 1596 —
February 11, 1650)
Best known for his Cartesian (or coordinate or analytic)
geometry, Descartes developed the standard graph on
an x/y axis and the algebra used to describe the points
within it. This was the first geometric system that
allowed points to be shown on a graph and drawn to
scale. Descartes’ contribution of graphing wasn’t all
that made him an important mathematician, though. He
also helped provide the foundations of modern calculus
(that Isaac Newton and Wilhelm Leibniz later used to
develop the modern form) and introduced the idea of
using superscripts within algebra to express powers.

Euclid (c. 300 BC)

The author of the influential treatise Elements (around
300 B.C.), Euclid is considered the father of modern
geometry. His theorems were foundational to much
math that followed and are still important in education
today. In fact, he is credited with the introduction of the
use of rigorous, logical proofs for theorems and
conjectures, which are still today used as the
framework for all mathematical work and discovery.

Ada Lovelace (December 10, 1815 —

November 27, 1852)
The Countess of Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron,
was drawn to the study of science and mathematics
despite women’s general exclusion from the subject in
the early 1800s. She started a correspondence with
mathematician Charles Babbage, the inventor of the
Analytical Engine, a device that performed simple
mathematical calculations using programs on punch-
cards (and that is considered one of the first
computers). Babbage asked Lovelace to translate an
Italian mathematician’s memoir analyzing his Analytical
Engine, and Lovelace not only did this, but also wrote
her own notes on the subject and sent them back.
These notes included a method for calculating a
sequence of Bernoulli numbers. This sequence was not
only a significant mathematical achievement, but is now
also acknowledged as the world’s first computer
program, without which modern computer science
couldn’t exist.

Pythagoras of Samos (571 BC — 495 BC)

The leader of the Pythagorean cult, one of the first
groups in Ancient Greece to actively study and
advance mathematics, Pythagoras is known as one of
the first great mathematicians and the founding father
of modern math. This designation was earned due to
his construction of the proof for the Pythagorean
Theorem within trigonometry (a2 + b2 = c2). Not only is
the Pythagorean Theorem important in measurements
on a practical level, but it is also the foundation of many
other theorems, having allowed for the development of
geometry.

Andrew Wiles (April 11, 1953 — Present)

Still a living and practicing mathematician, Wiles is
known as an important contributor to modern number
theory. He is most famous for finally solving Fermat’s
Last Theorem, a problem that had baffled
mathematicians for more than 300 years before his
breakthrough. Solving this theorem actually took Wiles
7 years, during which time he literally locked himself
away from the world. While it may seem like his
contributions are smaller than those of some of
the other mathematicians on this list, we are still
only beginning to discover their impact. After all,
much of the math used to actually solve the
theorem had never before been used, and is still
being extensively studied.

Leonhard Euler (April 15, 1707 —

September 18, 1783)
Euler is commonly considered one of the most
important mathematicians of all time. He
advanced math studies dramatically during the
1700s. There is a common saying among
mathematicians that goes like this: “all
mathematical formulas are named after the next
person after Euler to discover them,” because so
many formulas can be attributed directly to his
work. While it would be impossible to list all his
contributions to modern mathematics here, he is
most known for the introduction of mathematical
notation (such as using f(x) to denote a function),
shorthand trigonometric functions, the use of the
number ‘e’ for the base of the natural logarithm
(which was named the Euler Constant after him),
imaginary units, and the first uses of the symbol pi
for the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its
diameter. His discoveries helped form the basis of
calculus, topology, number theory, analysis, graph
theory, and many other fields of math