Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan pronunciation (helpinfo)) (22 December 1887 26 April
1920) was an n!ian mathematician an! auto!i!act who" with almost no formal
trainin# in pure mathematics" ma!e e$traor!inar% contributions to mathematical
anal%sis" number theor%" infinite series" an! continue! fractions& 'i(in# in n!ia
with no access to the lar#er mathematical communit%" which was centre! in
)urope at the time" *amanu+an !e(elope! his own mathematical research in
isolation& As a result" he re!isco(ere! ,nown theorems in a!!ition to pro!ucin#
new wor,& *amanu+an was sai! to be a natural #enius b% the )n#lish
mathematician -& .& .ar!%" in the same lea#ue as mathematicians such
as )uler an! -auss&
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Ren Descartes
Ren Descartes (1! e,rt12
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4rench5 /6ne !e,at02 'atini7e!5 Renatus
Cartesius2 a!+ecti(al form5 89artesian82
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:1 ;arch 1396 11 4ebruar% 1630) was
a 4rench philosopher" mathematician an! writer who spent most of his life in
the Dutch *epublic& .e has been !ubbe! the father of mo!ern philosoph%" an!
much subse<uent =estern philosoph%is a response to his writin#s"
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which are
stu!ie! closel% to this !a%& n particular" his Meditations on First
Philosophycontinues to be a stan!ar! te$t at most uni(ersit% philosoph%
!epartments& Descartes> influence in mathematics is e<uall% apparent2
the 9artesian coor!inate s%stem ? allowin# reference to a point in space as a set
of numbers" an! allowin# al#ebraic e<uations to be e$presse! as #eometric shapes
in a two@!imensional coor!inate s%stem (an! con(ersel%" shapes to be !escribe! as
e<uations) ? was name! after him& .e is cre!ite! as the father of anal%tical
#eometr%" the bri!#e between al#ebra an! #eometr%" crucial to the !isco(er%
of infinitesimal calculus an! anal%sis& Descartes was also one of the ,e% fi#ures in
the scientific re(olution an! has been !escribe! as an e$ample of #enius& .e
refuse! to accept the authorit% of pre(ious philosophers an! also refuse! to accept
the ob(iousness of his own senses
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse (-ree,5 ABCDEFGH2 c& 287 I9 c& 212 I9) was
an Ancient -ree, mathematician" ph%sicist"en#ineer" in(entor" an! astronomer&
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Althou#h few !etails of his life are ,nown" he is re#ar!e! as one of the
lea!in#scientists in classical anti<uit%&
-enerall% consi!ere! the #reatest mathematician of anti<uit% an! one of the
#reatest of all time"
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Archime!es anticipate! mo!ern calculus an! anal%sis b%
appl%in# concepts of infinitesimals an! the metho! of e$haustion to !eri(e an!
ri#orousl% pro(e a ran#e of #eometrical theorems" inclu!in# the area of a circle"
the surface area an! (olume of asphere" an! the area un!er a parabola&
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Kther
mathematical achie(ements inclu!e !eri(in# an accurate appro$imation of pi"
!efinin# an! in(esti#atin# the spiral bearin# his name" an! creatin# a s%stem
usin# e$ponentiation for e$pressin# (er% lar#e numbers& .e was also one of the
first to appl% mathematics to ph%sical phenomena"
foun!in# h%!rostaticsan! statics" inclu!in# an e$planation of the principle of
the le(er& .e is cre!ite! with !esi#nin# inno(ati(e machines" such as his screw
pump" compoun! pulle%s" an! !efensi(e war machines to protect his nati(e
L%racuse from in(asion&
Archime!es !ie! !urin# the Lie#e of L%racuse when he was ,ille! b%
a *oman sol!ier !espite or!ers that he shoul! not be harme!& 9icero !escribes
(isitin# the tomb of Archime!es" which was surmounte! b% a sphere an!
a c%lin!er" which Archime!es ha! re<ueste! to be place! on his tomb" representin#
his mathematical !isco(eries&
Euclid
Euclid (1+u, l! 12 -ree,5 MNOPQFGH Eukleids2 fl& :00 I9)" also ,nown as Euclid
of Alexandria" was a -ree, mathematician" often referre! to as the 84ather of
-eometr%8& .e was acti(e in Ale$an!ria !urin# the rei#n of Rtolem% (:2:28:
I9)& .is Elements is one of the most influential wor,s in the histor% of
mathematics" ser(in# as the main te$tboo, for
teachin# mathematics (especiall% #eometr%) from the time of its publication until
the late 19th or earl% 20th centur%&
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n the Elements" )ucli! !e!uce! the
principles of what is now calle! )ucli!ean #eometr% from a small set of a$ioms&
)ucli! also wrote wor,s on perspecti(e" conic sections" spherical
#eometr%" number theor% an! ri#or&
8)ucli!8 is the an#lici7e! (ersion of the -ree, name MNOPQFGH" meanin# 8-oo!
-lor%8&
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Brahmagupta
Brahmagupta (Lans,rit5 2 listen (helpinfo)) (398c&670 9)) was an
n!ian mathematician an! astronomer who wrote two important wor,s
on ;athematics an! Astronom%5 the Brhmasphuasiddhnta ()$tensi(e Sreatise
of Irahma) (628)" a theoretical treatise" an! the Khaakhdyaka" a more
practical te$t& Shere are reasons to belie(e that Irahma#upta ori#inate!
from Ihinmal&
Irahma#upta was the first to #i(e rules to compute with zero& She te$ts compose!
b% Irahma#upta were compose! in elliptic (erse" as was common practice
in n!ian mathematics" an! conse<uentl% has a poetic rin# to it& As no proofs are
#i(en" it is not ,nown how Irahma#upta>s mathematics was !eri(e!&
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