Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes was an extremely famous French philosopher, who also contributed deeply to the field of mathematics

Date of Birth: 3/31/1596 Date of Death: 2/11/1650 Birthplace: La Haye en Touraine, Indre-et-Loire, France

He was born in France, but spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. His philosophical writing is influential to many, and some refer to him as the Father or Modern Philosophy. He continued his work up through his final days, which he spent in Sweden. Descartes was well known and well respected amongst his peers. Descartes is credited as the first person to use superscripts to represent exponents. In otherwords, he wrote xxxx = x4 before anyone else. Additioanlly Descartes is credited with providing the groundwork for what Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz independently used to help create modern day calculus. Specifically he used calculus principles for a line of tangent - which is a line that intersects a circle in exactly one point. He also contributed to the field of optics, by identifying laws of reflection and refraction, and identifying that a rainbow's radius is 42. However, Descartes is probably most famous for his work in analytical geometry. The coordinate plane is commonly referred to as the Cartesian Coordinatebecause Descartes was so instrumental in developing it. Essentially Descartes was the first person to use algebra to describe geometry. So if you love solving algebra problems in your geometry class, you have Descartes to thank (we won't talk about anyone who doesn't love algebra)! Because of his work, Descartes is commonly refered to as the father or analytic geometry.

Albert Einstein: Math Genius

Albert Einstein is perhaps the most recognizable name of all scientists and mathematicians. He is widely considered to be one of the most intelligent people in the worlds history, and the name "Einstein" is even routinely used in place of the word "genius."

Date of Birth: 3/14/1879 Date of Death: 4/18/1955 Birthplace: Ulm, Wrttemberg, Germany

Einstein was born into a Jewish family in Germany, but he spent time in Italy, Switzerland, and eventually the United States. He was married twice. The first time to Mileva Maric in 1903. Together they had two sons and a daughter but their marriage was ended in 1919. That same year Einstein got remarried to Elsa Lwenthal, who was actually his cousin. Elsa died in 1936. Einstein himself passed away on April 18, 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was residing at the time. Einstein's contributions to math and science are immense, physics in particular. Arguably, his best known achievement is his theory of relativity, and the famous equation E = mc2. His research served as a foundation for what has become modern day physics. In particular, his ideas changed people's views on time, space and matter.

Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton is considered by some to be the most influential man in the history of science, more so than even Albert Einstein. Date of Birth: 1/4/1643 Date of Death: 3/31/1727 Birthplace: Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth Lincolnshire, England

Newton was born in England, spent many of his years living there, and also eventually died in the country. But during his living years, Newton accomplished so much. He contributed so much to science that some historians say that he significantly progressed ever field that he ever studied. Now that is some compliment. Sir Isaac Newton is believed to have developed the study of Calculus. However, it is also believed that a man named Gottfried Leibniz also independently developed Calculus at the same time! In fact, Leibniz actually published his work before Newton because Newton was fearful that his revelations might stir up controversy Although both were studying similar things, they both went about it from two very different approaches. They also used very different notation. Newton contributed much to the field of mathematics that few will ever even understand. Some of those contriubtions include Newton's identities, Newton's method, and the generalized binomial theorem. He also layed the groundwork for what eventually becaome Euler's summation formula. In short, of all the famous math people the world has ever known, Sir Isaac Netwon might be most influential mathematician. In addition to his vast contributions to the fields of mathematics, Newton is also credited with the development of many topics in, among other things, philosophy, astronomy, and physics. You may have heard of Newton's Laws of Motion, in particular his first and third laws (paraphrased below). First Law: an object in motion stays in motion, and an object at rest stays at rest unless and external forces acts upon it. Second Law: The equation F = ma, where m is the mass of the object, F is the net force, and a is the acceleration. Third Law: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Carl Friedrich Gauss

His formal name is Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss, although "Johann" is normally left out. However, to the mathematicians of the world, he is simply Gauss.

Date Birth: 4/30/1777 Date 2/23/1855 of

of Death:

Birthplace: Braunschweig, Holy Roman Empire

Gauss contributed so much to mathematics that he is sometimes referred to as the Prince of Mathematics. Keeping to the royal theme, Gauss studied many scientific fields, but he was particularly fond of math. He is quoted as referring to math as the "Queen of all the Sciences." A famous story of Gauss comes from his days in elementary school. As the story goes... The teacher gave the students a list of numbers to add together as a means of "busy work." For example, the teacher asked the students to add all of the numbers from 1 to 100 together and get a final answer (how long would that take you?). To the amazement of his teacher and his classmates, Gauss was able to perform this in seconds by using the "trick" below. 1 + 100 = 101, 2 + 99 = 101, 3 + 98 = 101, and so on... Because there are 50 "pairs" that add to 101, the final sum should be 50 x 101 = 5050. Today, many historians question the validity of this "folk tale" but no one questions Gauss's brilliance. Simply stated, Gauss's mathematical genius is undeniable. He contributed so much to mathematics, but his largest contributions came in the fields of statistics, analysis, and number theory.

Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal was a French philosopher, physicist, and of course mathematician.

Date of Death: 8/19/1662 Date of Birth: 6/19/1623 Birthplace: Clermont-Ferrand, France

Pascal demonstrated his abilities at a very early age, under the guidance of his father, but lived a short life (he died at age 39). Controversy seemed to follow Pascal throughout his life. For instance, Pascal offered a prize for a mathematical contest he proposed. However, Pascal entered under an alias and crowned himself the winner. Pascal is famous for his contributions to probability. In fact, he is considered to have been at the forefront of field. He took a strong interest in gambling, and is credited with the development of expected value, a fundamental theory used by professional poker players today. If you have heard of Blaise Pascal it is probably because of Pascal's Triangle. Pascal's triangle has many interesting mathematical connections, but Pascal discovered its connection to the binomial coefficients. Each number is generated by adding the two numbers above it. Look at the patterns below:

Pythagoras: a2 + b2 = c2
Ever wondered why it is call the Pythagorean Theorem? Well, it is named after Pythagoras, the man credited with the discovery of the formula thousands of years ago.

Date of Birth: 580 - 572 BC Date of Death: 500 - 490 BC Birthplace: Samos, Greece

He is said to have been born in the Greek island of Samos. That information, along with everything else about him unfortunately cannot be verified. There is no written documentation from the time that he lived. He is considered by many to be the "father of numbers" because of his belief that everything, even the "gods and demons", could be explained through numbers. However, he was considered to be a much more influential philosophy. He even led a religious movement in which his followers were called Pythagoreans.

ou might recognize the word Pythagorean from the Pythagorean Theorem. One of the most well known geometric formulas, a2 + b2 = c2, bears his name. The theorem relates the sides of a right triangle. In this formula, the "c" value always represents the hypotenuse of the triangle, which is the longest side and always across from the right right angle.

Fibonacci

Also referred to as Leonard of Pisa, Fibonacci was an Itallian number theorist. It is believed that Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci was born in the 13th century, in 1170 (approximately) and that he died in 1250. Fibonacci was born in Italy but obtained his education in North Africa. Very little is known about him or his family and there are no photographs or drawings of him. Much of the information about Fibonacci has been gathered by his autobiographical notes which he included in his books. However, Fibonacci is considered to be one of the most talented mathematicians for the Middle Ages. Few people realize that it was Fibonacci that gave us our decimal number system (Hindu-Arabic numbering system) which replaced the Roman Numeral system. When he was studying mathematics, he used the Hindu-Arabic (0-9) symbols instead of Roman symbols which didn't have 0's and lacked place value. In fact, when using the Roman Numeral system, an abacus was usually required. There is no doubt that Fibonacci saw the superiority of using Hindu-Arabic system over the Roman Numerals. He shows how to use our current numbering system in his book Liber abaci. It was this problem that led Fibonacci to the introduction of the Fibonacci Numbers and the Fibonacci Sequence which is what he remains famous for to this day. The sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55... This sequence, shows that each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. It is a sequence that is seen and used in many different areas of mathematics and

science. The sequence is an example of a recursive sequence. The Fibonacci Sequence defines the curvature of naturally occurring spirals, such as snail shells and even the pattern of seeds in flowering plants. The Fibonacci sequence was actually given the name by a French mathematician Edouard Lucas in the 1870's. Contributions Fibonacci is famous for his contributions to number theory. In his book, Liber abaci he introduced the Hindu-Arabic place-valued decimal system and the use of Arabic numerals into Europe. He introduced us to the bar we use in fractions, previous to this, the numerator has quotations around it. The square root notation is also a Fibonacci method.

It has been said that the Fibonacci numbers are Nature's numbering system and apply to the growth of living things, including cells, petals on a flower, wheat, honeycomb, pine cones and much more.

Euclid

Living around 300BC, he is considered the Father of Geometry and his magnum opus: Elements, is one the greatest mathematical works in history, with its being in use in education up until the 20th century. Unfortunately, very little is known about his life, and what exists was written long after his presumed death. Nonetheless, Euclid is credited with the instruction of the rigorous, logical proof for theorems and conjectures. Such a framework is still used to this day, and thus, arguably, he has had the greatest influence of all mathematicians on this list. Alongside his Elements were five other surviving works, thought to have been written by him,

all generally on the topic of Geometry or Number theory. There are also another five works that have, sadly, been lost throughout history.

Archimedes of Syracuse

Archimedes of Syracuse is generally regarded as the greatest mathematician and scientist of antiquity, and widely considered, along with Newton andGauss, as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. Archimedes' inventions were diverse -- compound pulley systems, war machines used in the defense of Syracuse, and even an early planetarium.

His major writings on mathematics included contributions on plane equilibriums, the sphere, the cylinder, spirals, conoids and spheroids, the parabola, "Archimedes Principle" of buoyancy, and remarkable work on the measurement of a circle. Archimedes is pictured with the methods he used to find an approximation to the area of a circle and the value of pi. Archimedes was the first to give a scientific method for calculating pi. to arbitrary accuracy. The method used by Archimedes -- the measurement of inscribed and circumscribed polygons approaching a 'limit" (described as 'exhaustion') -- was one of the earliest approaches to "integration". It preceded by more than a millennia Newton, Leibniz, and modern calculus. Archimedes was killed in the aftermath of the Battle of Syracuse -- a siege won by the Romans using war machines many of which had been invented by Archimedes himself. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier who likely had no idea who Archimedes was. At the time of his death Archimedes was reputedly sketching a geometry problem in the sand, his last words to the Roman soldier being "don't disturb my circles".

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a philosopher, mathematician, physicist, jurist, and contemporary of Newton. He is considered one of the great thinkers of the 17th century. He believed in a universe which followed a "pre-established harmony" between mind and matter, and attempted to reconcile the existence of a material world with the existence of a supreme being. The twentieth century philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell considered Leibniz's greatest claim to fame to be his invention of the infinitesimal calculus -a remarkable achievement considering that Leibniz was self-taught in mathematics. Leibniz is portrayed overlaid with integral notation from his calculus which he developed coincident with but independently of Newton's development of calculus. Although the historical record suggest that Newton developed his version of calculus first, Leibniz was the first to publish. Unfortunately, what emerged was not fruitful collaboration, but a rancorous dispute that raged for decades and pitted English continental mathematicians supporting Newton as the true inventor of the calculus, against continental mathematicians supporting Leibniz. Today, Leibniz and Newton are generally recognized as 'co-inventors' of the calculus. But Leibniz' notation for calculus was far superior to that of Newton, and it is the notation developed by Leibniz, including the integral sign and derivative notation, that is still in use today. Leibniz considered symbols to be critical for human understanding of all things. So much so that he attempted to develop an entire 'alphabet of human thought', in which all fundamental concepts would be represented by symbols which could be combined to represent more complex thoughts. Leibniz never finished this work