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Leonhard Euler was one of top mathematicians of the eighteenth century and the greatest mathematician to come out of Switzerland. He made numerous contributions to almost every mathematics field and was the most prolific mathematics writer of all time. It was said, Euler calculated without apparent effort, as men breathe. His peers dubbed him Analysis Incarnate for his incredible ability. Leonhard Euler was born in Basel, Switzerland, on April 15, 1707. His father, a Calvinist pastor and former mathematician, planned the life of a clergyman for his son and originally Leonhard followed that path.
He graduated from the University of Basel in 1724 where he studied theology and Hebrew. However geometry soon became his favorite subject. During his time at the school, Johann Bernoulli privately tutored him in mathematics. Johann was so impressed by his pupils ability that he convinced Euler's father to allow Leonhard to become a mathematician. He soon joined the St. Petersburg Academy of Science in 1727, two years after Catherine I founded it the wife of Peter the Great.
Euler served as a medical lieutenant in the Russian navy from 1727 to 1730. In St Petersburg he lived with Daniel Bernoulli. He became professor of physics at the academy in 1730 and professor of mathematics in 1733. He married and left Bernoulli's house in 1733. He had 13 children altogether of which 5 survived their infancy. He claimed that he made some of his greatest discoveries while holding a baby on his arm with other children playing round his feet.
The publication of many articles and his book Mechanical (1736 - 37), which extensively presented Newtonian dynamics in the form of mathematical analysis for the first time, started Euler on the way to major mathematical work. In 1741, at the invitation of Frederick the Great, Euler joined the Berlin Academy of Science, where he remained for 25 years. Even while in Berlin he received part of his salary from Russia and never got on well with Frederick. During his time in Berlin, he wrote over 200 articles, three books on mathematical analysis, and a popular scientific publication Letters to a Princess of Germany. In 1766 Euler returned to Russia. He had been arguing with Frederick the Great over academic freedom and Frederick was greatly angered at his departure.
Euler lost the sight of his right eye at the age of 31 and soon after his return to St Petersburg he became almost entirely blind after a cataract operation. Because of his remarkable memory was able to continue with his work on optics, algebra, and lunar motion. Amazingly after 1765 (when Euler was 58) he produced almost half his works despite being totally blind. After his death in 1783 the St. Petersburg Academy continued to publish Euler's unpublished work for nearly 50 more years. Euler made large bounds in modern analytic geometry and trigonometry.
He made decisive and formative contributions to geometry, calculus and number theory. In number theory he did much work in correspondence with Gold Bach. He integrated Leibeniz s differential calculus and Newton s method of fluxions into mathematical analysis. In number theory he stated the prime number theorem and the law of biquadratic reciprocity. He was the most prolific writer of mathematics of all time.
His complete works contains 886 books and papers. Euler contributed to every mathematical field that existed at the time. He standardized modern mathematics notation when he used symbols such as f (x), e, , i and in his textbooks. He was the first person to represent trigonometric values as ratios and prove that e is an irrational number. His invention of the calculus of variations led to the general method to solve max and min value problems. In physics, he developed the general equations for hydrodynamics and for motion.
He was also one of the first people to recognize that infinite series had to be convergent to be used safely. Possibly his most impressive work was his approximation of the three-body problem of the sun, earth and moon, which he solved while completely blind and performing all the computations in his head. Among his other endeavors were proofs of Fermats final theorem for cubes and quads, the use of calculus in mechanics and the computation of logs for negative and imaginary numbers. Euler s discoveries in mathematics are still used today. I truly consider Euler a great mathematician.
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Research essay sample on Academy Of Science Leonhard Euler
