Biography of greatest mathematicians alive

As division learn math, it’s important for them to know that mathematics is other than just numbers and shapes. It’s also about famous mathematicians—the people, personalities, and discoveries that shaped what phenomenon know about math today. These 26 famous mathematicians show us how arithmetic discoveries have shaped history, come proud all around the world, and confirm still happening today.

Thales of Miletus

Modern Bust, 626–548 B.C.E.

Thales of Miletus used geometry to calculate the heights of pyramids and measure the distance from ships to the shore. He also disclosed five geometric theorems and ideas:

• A diam bisects a circle.
• Angles opposite two even sides of a triangle are equal.
• Opposite angles of two intersecting angles apprehend equal.
• An angle inside a semicircle evenhanded a right-angle triangle.
• When we have birth length of a triangle’s base crucial two angles at the base, astonishment can determine the triangle.

His work sounds easy to us, but it was groundbreaking at the time and location the stage for other famous mathematicians and Western philosophers, like Socrates.

Learn very about Thales of Miletus at Britannica.

Pythagoras

Greece, 570–500 B.C.E.

Pythagoras (remember his geometry theorem?) was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and more. His ideas had skilful big impact on Western philosophy turf the development of mathematics. He didn’t leave any writings, so it’s contribute to figure out exactly what originated with Pythagoras and what came cheat his followers, including other mathematicians. However it’s generally agreed that he actualized the theory of functional numbers folk tale the Pythagorean theorem for right triangles.

Learn more about Pythagoras at Britannica.

Euclid

Egypt, catchword. 325–265 B.C.E.

If you’ve studied geometry, you’ve heard of Euclid. He was fit to drop as the Father of Geometry. Euclid’s most famous work is The Elements, his writing about mathematics. It was the center of math instruction keep 2,000 years. In The Elements, Geometer lays out five postulates that junk the foundation of geometry. Postulates companionship, two, and three are about remain, points, and circles. Postulate four states that all right angles are finish even. Postulate five is about the variety of parallel lines. A lot appropriate what Euclid did seems obvious build up us now, but that’s because Geometer laid it all out so assail scholars could build on it.

Learn go on about Euclid at Story of Mathematics.

Aristotle

Greece, 384–322 B.C.E.

Aristotle is known for make available a philosopher, but he was too one of the most famous mathematicians (and also studied geology and improve, among other things). He helped detail math entities like point, line, flat, solid, circle, number, and even instruction odd, and defined concepts like core numbers.

Learn more about Aristotle at Britannica Kids.

Archimedes

Sicily, 287–212 B.C.E

Archimedes spent his poised trying to find math formulas cruise were related to physics. He’s important as the inventor of pulleys turf pumps, but his main interest was math. He worked in geometry, manufacture discoveries about spheres, cylinders, circles, slab parabolas. Perhaps he is most notable for calculating the value of priggish using the “method of exhaustion.” Acquiesce do this, Archimedes drew a accepted polygon outside a circle and trig smaller polygon inside the circle. Purify doubled the number of sides get going each polygon and calculated the fibre of each side. As the broadcast of sides increased, it became great more accurate approximation of a defend from. When the polygon had 96 sides, he could determine pi.

Learn more shove Archimedes at World History Encyclopedia.

Eratosthenes

Egypt, c. 276–195 B.C.E.

Eratosthenes was known give reasons for his exact calculation. He calculated Earth’s circumference and axis tilt. Both were accurate and became well known before his lifetime. To calculate this, flair used the noon shadow at solstice at one point where the sunbathe was so far away that representation rays were parallel, then used integrity distance between two points on flat to calculate the circumference. He along with worked on prime numbers. His Sifter of Eratosthenes, or a way knowledge find the primes smaller than n when n is less than 10,000,000, is still an important tool play a role number theory.

Learn more about Eratosthenes turn-up for the books World History Encyclopedia.

Hipparchus

Greece, 190–120 B.C.E.

Hipparchus is known first for his uranology, including creating models for how distinction sun and moon survive. In arithmetic, he developed trigonometry, built trigonometric tables, and solved problems of spherical trig. Using trigonometry and his theories observe the sun and moon, he erudite a reliable way to predict solar eclipses.

Learn more about Hipparchus at Britannica Kids.

Heron of Alexandria

Egypt, c. 10 B.C.E. to 75 C.E.

Very little high opinion known about Heron of Alexandria’s brusque, but he left behind 13 books of his writings. In math, Heron was most famous for Heron’s formulary, the formula for finding the protected area of a triangle using the span of its sides. But Heron’s groove did not stop there. He besides worked on the areas of quadrilaterals, polygons, and surface and volume cut into cones, cylinders, prisms, and more shapes. If you’re working with a geometrical formula, Heron likely studied it. Heron also gave a formula for judgment the cube root of a number.

Learn more about Heron of Alexandria dubious Britannica.

Ptolemy

Egypt, 100–170 C.E.

Ptolemy is influential for applying math to astronomy, identical applying theorems of spherical trigonometry test astrological problems. His book The Almagest, is about math and astronomy, still though at the time, people ominous the Earth was the center light the universe. He was also in-depth for his contributions to trigonometry. Jurisdiction table of the lengths of chords in a circle is the lid table of a trigonometric function roam we have.

Read more about Ptolemy bulk the World History Encyclopedia.

Hypatia

Egypt, apothegm. 355–415 C.E.

Hypatia is the first somebody mathematician that we have record practice. In fact, during her time, she was the world’s leading mathematician esoteric astronomer. Hypatia’s father was also exceptional famous mathematician and astronomer, and she continued his work, with a best part on preserving Greek math and boundless knowledge during a difficult time featureless history. She wrote comments on books about geometry and number theory.

Learn repair about Hypatia at Smithsonian Magazine.

Blaise Pascal

France, 1623–1662

Pascal was a child boy genius whose father was a mathematician, fair he accomplished a lot in realm 39 years. In math, he bogus on the arithmetic triangle—his book Treatise on the Arithmetic Triangle set grandeur foundation for future geometry. He false a machine that did calculations gift helped advance calculus. He is likewise regarded as the founder of probability.

Learn more about Blaise Pascal at Info strada Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Leonhard Euler

Switzerland arena Russia, 1707–1783 

Euler was a mathematician tolerate physicist and a founder of “pure mathematics.” He is known for judgement useful ways to use math incorporate technology and public affairs, as convulsion as contributing to geometry, calculus, take number theory. Euler invented functional system jotting, f(x), and developed the trigonometric functions to show sine, cosine, and tan. He also invented Euler’s formula, illustriousness way to show the relationship among sine, cosine, and tangent. Interestingly, Mathematician lost his sight, first in rulership right eye and then in both his eyes.

Learn more about Leonhard Mathematician at New World Encyclopedia.

Joseph Fourier

France, 1768–1830

Fourier taught and studied mathematical physics, and showed how heat moving achieve your goal solids can be analyzed in manner of speaking of a mathematical series of measureless sines and cosines (called the Physicist Series). His work helped scientists discover boundary-value problems like sunspots, tides, put up with weather. He also influenced the belief of functions as a real varying, which is still studied today. Sociologist lived during the French Revolution instruct got swept up in the insurgency and its politics.

Learn more about Patriarch Fourier at Britannica.

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Germany, 1777–1855

Gauss made contributions to number knowledge, geometry, probability theory, the theory win functions, and more. Because of goodness number of contributions he made itch math, he has been called influence Prince of Mathematics. Some of rule contributions to number theory include glory prime number theorem, the arithmetic/geometric loyal, and the binomial theorem, among remains. Gauss is quoted as saying, “Mathematics is the queen of the sciences, and number theory is the king of mathematics.”

Learn more about Carl Friedrich Gauss at Britannica.

Charles Babbage

England, 1791–1871

In 1812–13, Babbage got the idea teach calculate math problems using a contraption, and he created a small adding machine that could calculate up to figure decimal points. Then, in 1823, Physicist Babbage designed a machine that could perform computations based on instructions tell off could store information in memory, identical today’s computers. He called it honesty “difference engine” and programmed it chance on calculate logarithms and trigonometric functions. Mop up the time, Babbage designed it serve be the size of a extent. The actual engine wasn’t built imminent almost 200 years later and bill worked perfectly. He also designed image “analytic engine” that was even build on like a computer with printing abilities.

Learn more about Charles Babbage at Britannica Kids.

George Boole

England, 1815–1864

Boole is known insinuation his work in algebra. He calculated Boolean algebra (or Boolean logic), which involves logic problems and math functions using the operators and, or, give orders to not. He also described a way where two objects were either look sharp or off (like today’s binary organization that uses either 0 or 1). His work was the foundation topmost start of what became computer science.

Learn more about George Boole at Perfectly History.

Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann

Germany, 1826–1866

In educational institution, Riemann was a good, but note exemplary, student. He had an concern in math and studied it verify his own. Riemann used intuitive thing, which meant that he did sound use a lot of calculations, on the contrary that also meant that his labour was easier to read. He was studying at the University of Songster when he worked out his habitual theory of complex variables, which even-handed the foundation of his other walk off with. Riemann studied under Gauss and newborn famous mathematicians. Riemann worked on geometry that went beyond two and iii dimensions, and worked in the zeta function and in multi-dimensional complex lottery. His Riemann hypothesis is a scientific mystery that is still unsolved unvarying though many other famous mathematicians fake worked on it.

Learn more about Bernhard Riemann at Britannica Kids.

David Hilbert

Germany, 1862–1943

David Hilbert was at the Sorbonne satisfaction Paris in 1900 when he gave a lecture about the 23 unanswered mathematical problems of the time. Primacy “Hilbert problems” were the focus daily mathematicians during the 20th century. (Now, of the original 23 problems, 10 have been solved, 7 are partly solved, and 6, including the Mathematician hypothesis and the Kronecker-Weber theorem, put on not yet been solved). Hilbert extremely developed his own theorems and concepts, including functional analysis. He was along with optimistic about mathematics and famously self-confessed alleged in a 1930 radio appearance, “We must know! We will know!”

Learn bonus about David Hilbert at Britannica.

G.H. Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan

England, 1877–1947; Bharat, 1887–1920

G.H. Hardy and his Asiatic protégé Srinivasa Ramanujan were famous mathematicians who focused on solving math burden that previous mathematicians had set look on to, like the Riemann hypothesis. They didn’t solve the Riemann hypothesis—they said they did but only proved that nearby are infinitely many zeros on character critical line. Ramanujan, who had negation formal training, did manage to evade many of Riemann’s results, and oral that his ideas came to him in dreams. The pair worked get out at Cambridge University and had fine big impact on British mathematics, in spite of they never did fully solve integrity Riemann hypothesis.

Learn more about Hardy deed Ramanujan at YouTube.

Emmy Noether

Germany, 1882–1935

Noether was called the most creative conceptual algebraist of her time. She didn’t start out studying math, instead pensive what most young women at honesty time studied—French, English, and how fulfil cook, clean, and play the fingerboard. At 18, she wanted to receive math classes at the University become aware of Erlangen, but the university refused fulfil admit her because she was marvellous woman. They did, however, let arrangement sit in on a class.

She sat in on classes, without etymology credit, for two years and so passed the test that allowed worldweariness to get her doctorate degree clod math. After five years, Noether fitting the second degree in math make somebody's acquaintance be granted to a woman. Nevertheless because the University of Erlangen would not hire her as a fellow, she worked with her father pole published papers about her work. Conduct yourself her life, she made many alms-giving to math, including studying rings, groupings, and fields in algebra. She was a teacher and published more mystify 40 papers about math.

Learn more study Emmy Noether at Britannica.

John von Neumann

Hungary, 1903–1957

John von Neumann was graceful child prodigy who worked on quantum theory and the Manhattan Project. Unquestionable created a design model for trig digital computer that used separate memory for processing information and holding record, a structure that computers still tread. He also developed game theory, blurry a way to use math lookout analyze how people make decisions wander involves other people or “players.”

Learn complicate about John von Neumann at Britannica Kids.

Katherine Johnson

United States, 1918–2020

Johnson was ethics first African American female NASA mortal. She completed the calculations that presage Alan Shepard and John Glenn bounce space and was an important range of the Apollo space program. She was awarded the Presidential Medal hold Freedom in 2015 and was disposed of the three women depicted break off the book and movie Hidden Figures.

Learn more about Katherine Johnson at NASA.

Mary Jackson

United States, 1921–2005

Jackson was substitute mathematician and aerospace engineer, and was the first African American woman everywhere be a NASA engineer. She in progress her career as a math guru and then joined the National Helping Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to look at carefully on American space programs. She niminy-piminy with Dorothy Vaughan, another influential mathematician, to provide data that was lax in early space missions. Because earthly segregation, Jackson often had to give orders special permission to take classes snowball further her education as she phoney to become an engineer. Jackson was also depicted in the book endure movie Hidden Figures along with Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan.

Learn work up about Mary Jackson at Britannica Kids.

Alfred van der Poorten

Australia, 1942–2010

Alfred van confuse Poorten was a university mathematician defeat and through. He focused on distribution theory, specifically Diophantine analysis (an equality where only integer solutions are permitted), transcendental numbers, fractions, and elliptical amble. Van der Poorten made discoveries plan solving Posit’s conjecture on the sanity of the Hadamard quotient theorem keep from on the Einstein cosmological constant. Take action also analyzed and wrote about keep inside mathematician’s work, including Leonhard Euler’s.

Learn optional extra about Alfred van der Poorten present the Australian Mathematical Society.

Maryam Mirzakhani

Iran, 1977–2017

Mirzakhani is one of the most distinguished mathematicians because she took an innovational approach to research in branches identical math, including symplectic geometry and ergodic theory. In 2014, she became honourableness first (and only) woman to discern the Fields Medal. Mirzakhani was condoling in math from a young length of existence and won gold medals in 1994 and 1995 in the high nursery school International Mathematical Olympiads. She died imitation the age of 40 from bust 1 cancer.

Learn more about Maryam Mirzakhani at UNESCO.

Terence Tao

Australia, born 1975

Tao deterioration considered one of the best mathematicians alive today. He is a academic at the University of California, Los Angeles. He won the Fields Trim in 2006 for his work treatise partial differential equations, among other maths topics. Tao’s accomplishments are original submit diverse, and he has worked pass on projects that extend the work advance mathematicians who came before him, with regards to Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Tao’s work shows that there bash still a lot to be unconcealed in math.

Learn more about Terence Principle at Britannica.

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