Who was Leonhard Euler? When asked to name some of the greatest contributors to the field of mathematics most people would answer Einstein, Newton, Pythagoras, Fibonacci, or perhaps Gauss. None of these people would be incorrect. However, most would not name Leonhard Euler. Perhaps he didn’t have as good of a publicist; maybe his achievements overshadowed his name. In either case, Euler deserves to be credited and mentioned with the likes of the other great minds previously mentioned. Given his history, achievements, and contributions it will be hard to deny his place amongst the top minds of all time.
Leonhard Euler, born in Switzerland in 1707, was originally taught math by his father before going to the University of Basel. It was here that Euler received a Masters by the age of 17. By 1730 he had moved to St. Petersberg, Russia, and became a professor of mathematics as well as physics just 3 years later. In 1748 he wrote Analysis Infinitorum which simplified and explained the processes of analytical mathematics. In 1755 he wrote Institutiones Calculi Differentialis, which was essentially the first ever comprehensive textbook to cover differential calculus. He developed a cataract in one of his eyes in 1767 causing him to go partially blind. Luckily this did not
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He was a master in the study of number theory, which is the study of understanding and manipulating positive numbers. Euler developed proofs and new comprehensive definitions covering prime and perfect numbers. In his writings he continually provided improved explanations for past concepts while providing building blocks for future analysis. For example his work with logarithms was not an original one as the concept had already been developed by John Napier over 150 years prior to Euler’s birth. In true Eulerian fashion he furthered this concept by developing the concept of natural logarithms (Debnath, 1999, p.