Leonhard Euler was a Swiss mathematician who lived during the 18th century. He was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1707, but when he was one year old his family moved to Riechen and he was raised there. He was the eldest son of six children. His father, Paul Euler was a Calvinist preacher who worked with his young son in mathematics and then arranged for him to study with a renowned mathematician. Euler was 13 years old when he entered the University of Basel and continued his studies there under the tutelage of Johann Bernoulli. He studied not only mathematics, but also astronomy, medicine, languages and physics. He received his Master’s Degree when he was 16 years old and published his first mathematical paper at age 19. This early work was about the optimal placement of a ship’s mast. At the time of its writing he had never actually seen an ocean …show more content…
Petersberg and was appointed to the St. Petersberg Academy in Russia. In 1733 he succeeded Daniel Bernoulli as the Professor of Mathematics at the Academy of Sciences. Shortly after this in 1734, he married Katharina Gsell. They had thirteen children together. However, only 5 of them lived to see adulthood. Leonhard and Katharina remained together for 40 years until her death. Three years after she passed away, he married her half-sister Salome Abigail Gsell who remained his wife for the rest of his life. Euler went to Berlin in 1741 by invitation of Frederick the Great to assist in re-founding the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences. He held a professorship there until 1766 when he returned to St. Petersberg and spent the rest of his life in Russia. During this time he encountered multiple tragedies. He lost his home to a fire in 1771 and then his beloved wife in 1773. On September 18th, 1783 after having an enjoyable lunch with his family, Leonhard Euler suffered a brain hemorrhage and passed away a few hours later. He was 76 years