Leonhard Euler (Swiss mathematician) Add a review

Leonhard Euler ( OY-lər; German: [ˈleːɔnhaʁt ˈʔɔʏlɐ] , Swiss Standard German: [ˈleɔnhard ˈɔʏlər]; 15 April 1707 – 18 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician, and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in many other branches of mathematics such as analytic number theory, complex analysis, and infinitesimal calculus. He also introduced much of modern mathematical terminology and notation, including the notion of a mathematical function. He is also known for his work in mechanics, fluid dynamics, optics, astronomy, and music theory. As a result, Euler has been described as a "universal genius" who "was fully equipped with almost unlimited powers of imagination, intellectual gifts and extraordinary memory".

Euler is regarded as arguably the most prolific contributor in the history of mathematics and science, and the greatest mathematician of the 18th century. Several great mathematicians who produced their work after Euler's death have recognised his importance in the field as shown by quotes attributed to many of them: Pierre-Simon Laplace expressed Euler's influence on mathematics by stating, "Read Euler, read Euler, he is the master of us all." Carl Friedrich Gauss wrote: "The study of Euler's works will remain the best school for the different fields of mathematics, and nothing else can replace it." His 866 publications and his correspondence are being collected in the Opera Omnia Leonhard Euler which, when completed, will consist of 81 quartos. He spent most of his adult life in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and in Berlin, then the capital of Prussia.

Euler is credited for popularizing the Greek letter ${\displaystyle \pi }\{\backslash displaystyle\; \backslash pi\; \}$ (lowercase pi) to denote the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, as well as first using the notation ${\displaystyle f(x)}\{\backslash displaystyle\; f(x)\}$ for the value of a function, the letter ${\displaystyle i}\{\backslash displaystyle\; i\}$ to express the imaginary unit ${\displaystyle \sqrt{-1}}\{\backslash displaystyle\; \{\backslash sqrt\; \{-1\}\}\}$, the Greek letter ${\displaystyle \mathrm{\Sigma }}\{\backslash displaystyle\; \backslash Sigma\; \}$ (capital sigma) to express summations, the Greek letter ${\displaystyle \mathrm{\Delta }}\{\backslash displaystyle\; \backslash Delta\; \}$ (capital delta) for finite differences, and lowercase letters to represent the sides of a triangle while representing the angles as capital letters. He gave the current definition of the constant ${\displaystyle e}\{\backslash displaystyle\; e\}$, the base of the natural logarithm, now known as Euler's number. Euler made contributions to applied mathematics and engineering, such as his study of ships which helped navigation, his three volumes on optics contributed to the design of microscopes and telescopes, and he studied the bending of beams and the critical load of columns.

Euler is also credited with being the first to develop graph theory (partly as a solution for the problem of the Seven Bridges of Königsberg, which is also considered the first practical application of topology). He also became famous for, among many other accomplishments, providing a solution to several unsolved problems in number theory and analysis, including the famous Basel problem. Euler has also been credited for discovering that the sum of the numbers of vertices and faces minus the number of edges of a polyhedron equals 2, a number now commonly known as the Euler characteristic. In the field of physics, Euler reformulated Isaac Newton's laws of motion into new laws in his two-volume work Mechanica to better explain the motion of rigid bodies. Euler made contributions to the study of elastic deformations of solid objects. Euler formulated the partial differential equations for the motion of inviscid fluid, and further laid the mathematical foundations of potential theory.