These are all renowned figures we have encountered since our school days, as they are the founders of extremely familiar mathematical formulas.
1. Leonhard Euler (Switzerland, Born/Died: 1704-1783).
2. Carl Friedrich Gauss (Germany, Born/Died: 1777-1855).
3. Euclid (Greece, lived in the 3rd century BC).
4. Isaac Newton (England, Born/Died: 1643-1727).
5. Wilhelm Leibniz (Germany, Born/Died: 1646-1716).
6. Archimedes (Greece, Born/Died: circa 287-212 BC).
7. Jules Henri Poincare (France, Born/Died: 1854-1912).
8. Rene Descartes (France, Born/Died: 1596-1650).
9. Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (Germany, Born/Died: 1826-1866).
10. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (Iraq, Born/Died: circa 780-circa 850).
11. Pythagoras (570-495 BC): Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician, philosopher, and scientist, is famous in ancient times. His name and fundamental mathematical theorems are always found in textbooks. His famous theorem, “In a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is always equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides,” is considered a foundational principle in geometry and has made him renowned worldwide.
12. Hypatia (360-415): Hypatia is recognized as the first female mathematician in the world, as well as an astronomer, philosopher, and physicist. Her most valuable scientific legacy is her edited version of Euclid’s The Elements, the most important Greek mathematical text and one of the standard versions for many centuries.
13. Georg Cantor (1845-1918): Among all the great mathematicians, Cantor is a prime example of the perception that mathematical genius and mental illness are inseparable. He was a renowned mathematician and the father of set theory—the foundation of this field.
14. Paul Erdős (1913-1996): Erdős was a Hungarian mathematician who pursued problems in combinatorial mathematics, graph theory, number theory, mathematical analysis, approximation theory, set theory, and probability theory. He is considered one of the most outstanding mathematicians of the 20th century, and he was also known for his eccentric personality.
15. Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576): Girolamo Cardano was an Italian mathematician, physician, and astrologer of the Renaissance. He studied medicine but struggled to find work due to his eccentric personality and lifestyle. Nonetheless, his passion for his profession led him to become the first to provide explanations for typhoid fever.
16. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662): Blaise Pascal was a talented mathematician, physicist, inventor, and Christian philosopher. He was the first to study and invent the mechanical calculator, known as the Pascaline. In 1653, he wrote “Traité du triangle arithmétique” (Treatise on the Arithmetical Triangle), describing a structure known as Pascal’s Triangle. Although he passed away at the age of 39 due to health issues, he left behind a significant legacy and contributions to the world of mathematics.
17. Fibonacci (1170-1250): Fibonacci was a brilliant Italian mathematician. Although he was not the inventor of the number system, he played a critical role in spreading the Hindu-Arabic numeral system throughout Europe. The modern sequence named after him, the Fibonacci numbers, continues to be widely used today.
18. Thales (624-546 BC): Thales was a mathematician and one of the seven famous philosophers of Greece. He made significant contributions to mathematics, having invented a mathematical theorem that bears his name, known as Thales’ theorem.
19. Alan Turing (1912-1954): Alan Turing was a mathematician, cryptanalyst, and logician from England. He is regarded as the father of computer science. The Turing Test is one of the many achievements he left for humanity.
