Mathematicians

Below is a suggested list of mathematicians for your report (in chronological order). If you find another mathematician or individual strongly influenced by mathematics who you would like to study, clear it ahead of time or turn in four choices. On Tuesday, February 9th, you will hand in your first, second, and third choice. You may begin handing them in at 8 am (no earlier). Reports will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.  · **Thales of Miletus (c. 640-546 BC) –** similar triangles…indirect measurement…fundamentals of geometry · **Pythagoras (c. 580-500 BC) –** first pure mathematician…geometry…Pythagorean Theorem…even, odd, triangular, perfect numbers…music – vibrations and length of strings…irrational numbers · **Aristotle (384-322 BC) -** deductive logic…infinity · **Hypatia (c. 370-415 BC) –** first woman mathematician…wrote commentaries on math and astronomy…murdered by individuals who felt threatened by her scholarship · **Euclid** **(c. 300 BC) –** The Elements (compilation of math knowledge that became center of teaching for 2000 years)…philosopher…built up school of mathematics in Alexandria · **Archimedes (287-212 BC) -** compound pulley, Archimedes screw…pi…Archimedes principle (weight of an object immersed in a liquid · **Claudius Ptolemy (AD 150) –** geocentric theory…approximation for pi…solstices and equinox…optics · **Liu Hui (AD 220-280) -** __Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art__ ... Gougu theorem (Pythagorean Theorem) · **Diophantus (c. AD 275) –** linear & quadratic equations…algebraic notation… riddle of his life! · **Zu Chongzhi (429-501) -** calendar · **Brahmagupta (598-670) -** wrote rules of Algebra…concept of zero · **Mohammed ibn Musa Al-Khowarizmi (c. 820) –** father of Algebra…algorithm · **Leonard Fibonacci (c. 1200) –** Fibonacci Sequence…perfect numbers…square numbers…number theory · **Yang Hui (1238-1298) –** innovative teacher… word problems… number properties. · **Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) -** a Tuscan, polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, bonanist, musician, and writer. · **Michael Stifel (1487-1567) –** arithmetic and algebra research…invented logarithms…notation for operating symbols · **Francois Viete (1540-1603) –** modern symbolic algebra…systematic algebraic equations…rules for product of powers · **Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) –** astronomer…theory of the solar system · **John Napier (1550-1617) -** hobby…invention of logarithms…Napier's analogies (used in solving spherical triangles) …Napier's bones (used for mechanically multiplying dividing and taking square roots and cube roots)…decimal notation for fractions · **Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) –** astronomy…Copernican…found guilty by the Inquisition · **Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) –** three laws of planetary motion…optics…logarithms · **Rene Descartes (1596-1650) –** analytical geometry (application of algebra to geometry) · **Pierre Fermat (1601-1665) –** algebraic proofs of geometry…theoretical probability…wrongly reported as dead! · **Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) –** triangle - 180 ° …conic sections…theoretical probability…Pascal’s wager · **Robert Boyle (1627 = 1691) -** natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor, and early entleman scientist, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. He is best known for the formulation of Boyle's law. · **Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) –** differential & integral calculus…tangents… optics… telescopes… · **Baron von Leibnitz (1646-1716) –** lifelong aim to reunify the Christian Churches…calculus…binary system of arithmetic… · **Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686 - 1736 ) -** German physicist and engineer. He proposed the scale of temperature that we know as the Fahrenheit **°F**) scale. · **The Bernoulli Family (17th-18th Centuries) –** Especially Johann III…probability…Bernoulli principle (movement of a fluid under different pressures) · **Anders Celsius (1701 - 1744) -** Swedish astronomer . Celsius scale on the thermometer. How is his different from today’s scale. · **Emilie du Chatelet (1706-1749) –** ‘the only French woman of her time seriously to develop her talent for mathematics and physics’… translated Newton’s Book of Elements · **Leonhard Euler (1707-1789) –** modern analytic geometry and trigonometry…philosophy…cartography…magnetism…number theory…infinity · **Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799) –** Witch of Agnesi · **Joseph Louis Lagrange (1736-1813) –** Lagrange polynomial…astronomy…quadratics… determinants · Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827) – differential equations… probability… solar system · Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) – first woman to discover a comet…telescope maker…helped brother develop the modern mathematical approach to astronomy · **Sophie Germain (1776-1831) –** parents didn’t want her to study math…work on Fermat’s Last Theorem… not respected since female · **Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) –** fundamental theorem of algebra… geodesy… differential geometry · Mary Fairfax Somerville (1780-1872) – family disapproved of studies…magnetism…had to correspond to other mathematicians (men) through her husband · Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789-1857) - geometry…polyhedrons…matrices · **Charles Babbage (1791- 1871) -** an English mathematician, philosopher, and mechanical engineer who originated the idea of a programmable computer. · **Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace (1815-1852) –** estranged father was Lord Byron (poet)…computer language named for her…analytic engine – future computer application · **Florence** **Nightingale (1820-1910) –** statistical analysis of mortality rates · **Mary Everest Boole (1832-1916) –** influence on modern classroom · **Sonya Corvin-Krukovsky Kovalevsky (1850-1891) -** forced to marry so that she could go abroad (Russia to Germany) to enter higher education…partial differential equations · **Charlotte Angas Scott (1858-1931) –** England’s first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics… studied at Bryn Mawr College (PA)… "A Proof of Noether's Fundamental Theorem,"… geometry · **Grace Chisholm Young (1868-1944) –** published under her husband’s name… calculus… set point theory · **Albert Einstein (1879-1955) –** theory of relativity…physics · **Emmy (Amalie) Noether (1882-1935) –** at university could only study mathematics unofficially…fought for recognition…laid groundwork for Einsteins general theory of relativity · **Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) –** Indian… unable to pass exams…England – number theory… properties of different numbers · **Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) –** Dutch – graphic artist, known for his mathematically inspired art work · **Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) –** nuclear physics… Manhattan Project · **Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) –** Naval officer…computer development…binary…UNIVAC computer · **Evelyn Boyd Granville (1924 - ) –** graduated from a segregated high school… National Bureau of Standards… IBM… NASA 