LEONHARD EULER
Class 10 A Student : Andrei Gheorghiu
Introduction
Leonhard Euler (15 April 1707 – 18 September
1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a
mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician,
geographer, and engineer. He founded the
studies of graph theory and topology and made
influential discoveries in many other branches of
mathematics, such as analytic number
theory, complex analysis, and infinitesimal
calculus. He also introduced much of modern
mathematical terminology and notation,
including the notion of a mathematical function.
He is known for his work in mechanics, fluid
dynamics, optics, astronomy, and music theory.
Mathematical notation
Euler is credited for popularizing the
Greek letter π to denote the ratio of
a circle's circumference to its
diameter, as well as first using the
notation f(x) for the value of a
function, the letter i to express
the imaginary unit , the Greek
letter Σ to express summations, the
Greek letter Δ for finite differences,
and lowercase letters to represent
the sides of a triangle while
representing the angles as capital
letters.
Contributions to mathematics
He gave the current definition of the
constant e, the base of the natural
logarithm (loge x = ln x), now known
as Euler's number. Euler made
contributions to applied
mathematics and engineering, such as
his study of ships which helped
navigation, his three volumes on
optics contributed to the design
of microscopes and telescopes, and he
studied the bending of beams and the
critical load of columns.
Contributions to mathematics
Euler's use of power series enabled him to
solve the Basel problem, finding the sum
of the reciprocals of squares of every
natural number, in 1735 (he provided a
more elaborate argument in 1741). The
Basel problem was originally posed
by Pietro Mengoli in 1644, and by the
1730s was a famous open problem,
popularized by Jacob Bernoulli and
unsuccessfully attacked by many of the
leading mathematicians of the time. Euler
found that:
Number theory
Euler pioneered the use of analytic methods to solve number
theory problems. In doing so, he united two disparate
branches of mathematics and introduced a new field of
study, analytic number theory. In breaking ground for this
new field, Euler created the theory of hypergeometric series,
hyperbolic trigonometric functions, and the analytic theory
of continued fractions. For example, he proved the infinitude
of primes using the divergence of the harmonic series, and
he used analytic methods to gain some understanding of the
way prime numbers are distributed. Euler's work in this area
led to the development of the prime number theorem.
Funny Greek Symbols
Commemorations
Euler was featured on both the
sixth and seventh series of the
Swiss 10-franc banknote and
on numerous Swiss, German,
and Russian postage stamps. In
1782 he was elected a Foreign
Honorary Member of
the American Academy of Arts
and
Sciences. The asteroid 2002
Euler was named in his honour.