Leonhard Euler
Euler’s Life April 15, 1707 - September 18, 1783 Mathematician and physicist Born in Basel, Switzerland At age 13, enrolled at the University of Basel 1723 - Received his Master of Philosophy at age 16 1726 - completed a dissertation on the propagation of sound
Euler’s Life 1727 - first entered the Paris Academy Prize Problem competition Euler took second place in 1727, but went on to win this prize 12 times
Moved to Berlin in June 1741, became a professor at the Berlin Academy Lived in Berlin for 25 years Wrote 380 articles
Euler’s Life Euler’s eyesight worsened during his mathematical career Was still able to work due to his mental calculation skills and excellent memory
Euler’s Contributions Euler worked in almost all areas of mathematics Geometry, trigonometry, algebra, number theory, infinitesimal calculus, lunar theory, continuum physics
The only mathematician to have two numbers named after him Euler’s number in caluculus Euler-Mascheroni Constant
Euler’s Contributions Introduced several mathematical notations The concept of a function and was the first to write f(x) to denote the function f applied to the argument x Modern notation for the trigonometric functions Greek letters to symbolize summations
Euler’s Contributions Euler is well known in analysis for his frequent use and development of power series The expression of functions as sums of infinitely many terms
Introduced the use of the exponential function and logarithms in analytic proofs Number theory Developed and proved much work associated with number theory
Euler’s Contributions Euler diagram Diagram representing sets and their relationships Usually using circles to symbolize sets
Physics and astronomy Determined the orbits of comets and other celestial bodies Contributed to accurate longitude tables Developed the quantum theory of light
Euler’s Contributions One of the most prolific mathematicians His collected works fill 60-80 volumes
Interested in the application of mathematical ideas in music