Download Famous Mathematicians of the Past

Famous Mathematicians of
the past.
Michelle Paluch
Math 303
Fall 2005
Pythagoras of Samos 569-475 BC.
• He is considered to be the
first pure mathematician.
• He was born in 569 BC to a
merchant from Tyre. As a
child he was very well
educated.
• Little is known about his
mathematical acheivements
because he and his society
followed a code of secrecy.
Pythagoras Cont.
• Developed many theorems still widely used today in
mathematics including his most famous theorem :
The Pythagorean Theorem which states that the
square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal
to the sum of the squares of the other two sides or
simply:
Pythagoras Cont.
• Also contributed to the field
of Astronomy with his
teachings that stated that
the Earth was the center of
the universe and that the
planet Venus, like the sun,
orbited the Earth.
• Many of Pythagoras
observations on planetary
and star movement are still
used today.
Archimedes (287-212 B.C.)
• He was known in history for being a mathematician, physicist, and
inventor.
• His most famous work was done in the areas of geometry, physics,
hydrostatics and mechanics.
• Was the first mathematician to ever calculate the value of pi.
• Authored nine treatises on mathematics : On the Sphere and
Cylinder, On the Measurement of the Circle, On the Equilibrium of
Planes, On Conoids and Spheroids, On Spirals, On the Quadrature
of the Parabola,Arenarius On Floating Bodies, and On the Method
of Mechanical Theorems.
Archimedes Cont.
• He is also credited with developing a mathematical system
that expresses extremely large numbers expontentially.
• In addition to his many mathematical treatises, he came up
with Archimedes Principle which states that an object placed
in fluid pushes up with a force equal to the mass of displaced
fluid.
• One of his greatest inventions is known as Archimedes’ Screw
which is a device shaped like a cylinder with a continuous
screw inside it. This device was used to raise water, sand and
soil. It’s applications are still used to this day in irrigation
and drainage.
Euclid of Alexandria 325-265 B.C.
• Born in Tyre, Egygt there is
little known about his life.
• His most famous mathematical
work was the treatise he wrote
called Elements which
consisted of thirteen books.
• The first six books of the
Elements set dealt with plane
geometry and dealt with the
basic properties of triangles,
rectangles, parallelograms,
squares and circles.
Euclid of Alexandria Cont.
• Books seven through nine deal
with the number theory and
Euclidean’s Logarithm.
• Book ten deals with the theory of
irrational numbers.
• In the last three books, Euclid
talks about three-dimensional
shapes and applies many of his
theorems from the first four books
on two-dimensional shapes.
Rene Descartes 1596-1650
• Born on March 31, 1596 in
Touraine, France.
• He was educated at the
Jesuit College of La Fleche.
He entered college at the
age of eight years old and
remained there until he was
sixteen.
• His most famous work is
considered to be La
Geometrie where he applies
algebra to geometry for
which was considered the
birth of Cartesian Geometry.
Rene Descartes Cont.
• He is also well known for his work entitled La Meteores which
was the first book to understand common weather
phenomenon. This book’s applications are still being studied
today.
• Descartes also authored other works which state that the
universe could be understood on a mathematical foundation.
• Descartes died of pneumonia on February 11,1650.
Blaise Pascal 1623-1662
• Pascal was born in
Auvergne, France on June
19, 1623.
• By the age of sixteen, he
had already developed
several geometric theorems
and by the time he was
seventeen he had already
published his first work:
Essay on Conic Sections.
• He is credited with having
invented the first calculator
in 1645.
Blaise Pascal Cont.
• In 1646, Pascal began studying atmospheric pressure and the
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following year had proof that a vacuum existed.
In 1648, Pascal observed that the pressure of the atmosphere
decreases with height and proved that a vacuum existed above
the Earth’s atmosphere.
In May of 1653, Pascal wrote Treatise on the Equilibrium of
Liquids in which he explains his law of pressure.
Pascal focused most of his study on conic sections.
By 1653, he developed “Pascal’s Triangle” which calculates
binomial coefficents.
Pascal died on Aug 19, 1662 of stomach cancer that spread to
his brain. He was only 39 years old.