20 mathematicians who made history

The origin of mathematics is very ancient. Although India is often cited as the cradle, the truth is that older civilizations had already made enormous progress in this regard. There is evidence of mathematical concepts and ideas from at least 20,000 years ago.. Today we compile the mathematicians who made history, accompanied by their achievements.

Certainly, There are hundreds and hundreds of illustrious figures who deserve to write their signature in the history of mathematical thought.. This selection is much more modest, so it leaves out important names. But it is certainly a good attempt at honor roll. Or better yet, rate it yourself.

The best mathematicians who made history

There are names in the history of contributions to mathematical thought that are already part of popular culture. Newton is perhaps the best examplesince even among those who are unaware of his achievements or are not associated with the academic environment, he is a familiar name.

We leave you with the most relevant mathematicians who made history, accompanied by a brief review of their achievements.

1. Pythagoras (570-495 BC)

Multiple mathematical discoveries are attributed to Pythagoras, including the Pythagorean theorem and the theorem of proportions, valid to this day. It is said that he was one of the main thinkers to call himself a philosopher. or lover of wisdom.

Pythagoras, along with his followers, believed that the universe could be explained on the basis of numbers.

2. Euclid (325-265 BC)

Euclid is known as the father of geometry. His ideas are reflected in his work. Itemswhich also contains other contributions such as number theory, Euclid’s lemma, Euclid’s algorithm and the infinity of prime numbers, among many other things. His work was used as a basis for regular mathematics teaching until the early 20th century..

3. Hypatia (360-415 AD)

Hypatia is one of the most important thinkers in history, one whose life is very well documented. Although there is no evidence that she made a groundbreaking mathematical discovery, she was a great scholar, teacher, and commentator on mathematical works and theorems. He edited and commented on books by Ptolemy and Apollonius of Perga.

4. Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576)

Girolamo Cardano is probably the most important mathematician of the entire Renaissance. He was the introducer of the binomial theorem and binomial coefficients; in addition to one of the founders of probability theory.

Girolamo recognized the existence of imaginary numbers and made contributions to cubic and quartic equations.

5. Isaac Newton (1642-1726)

Newton is a thinker who needs no further introduction. His work Principle It marked a milestone in the history of Western mathematics and physics, and is the basis for classical mechanics.

Among many other things, he generalized the binomial theorem, developed a method for approximating roots of a function, classified plane cubic curves, and developed infinitesimal calculus.

6. Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716)

We said a moment ago that Newton is the inventor of infinitesimal calculus, although in reality Leibniz also shares due credit for his contributions. He was a brilliant mathematician, although his ideas were always overshadowed by those of Newton.

He anticipated central ideas of modern probability theory and computer science. His contributions are also felt in geometry, linear functions, calculus and other functions.

7. Thomas Bayes (1702-1761)

Bayes is mainly known for devising Bayes’ theorem. He did not publish his ideas on the matter while he was alive.but were published after his death, by Richard Price.

An interpretation of probability based on its ideas is called Bayesian probability. There is also Bayesian statistics, so he is among the most important mathematicians in history.

8. Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)

Euler is one of the fathers of infinitesimal calculus, complex analysis and analytical number theory. He was the introducer of the notion of mathematical function and what is known today as the Euler number.

Furthermore, he was the first practitioner of graph theory and It gained popularity at the time for solving the Basel problem.

9. Joseph Lagrange (1736-1813)

Lagrange’s contributions are felt at the level of number analysis, number theory and Newtonian classical mechanics. He is also considered the promoter of mathematical physics, algebra, analytical geometry, differential equations and continuous fractions. The ideas that reformulate Newton’s theory are known today as Lagrangian mechanics.

10. Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827)

Promoter of mathematical physics who made extensive comments and contributions to classical mechanics, especially in relation to calculus.

He developed the nebular hypothesis, formulated the Laplace equation and what is currently known as the Laplacian differential operator. He was probably the best mathematician of his time, so much so that he was known as the French Newton.

11. John Playfair (1759-1823)

Playfair is the founder of graphical methods of statistics, so he is one of the mathematicians who made history. He invented several types of graphs, including linear, bar, area and circle graphs.r.

He also made important contributions to economics and engineering. He has several essays on linear arithmetic applied to the progress of commerce.

12. Carl Gauss (1777-1855)

Gauss formulated the fundamental theorem of algebra, as well as contributions to the number theorem, arithmetic, quadratic forms, and many other fields. He demonstrated and analyzed existing theorems, so that based on his comments they became the norm in mathematics. The Gaussian function and the Gauss bell is named in his honor.

13. Charles Babbage (1791-1871)

Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer. which served as the basis for modern computers. He was one of the founding fathers of the Analytical Society, an institution aimed at introducing the advances of the European continent to the field of English mathematics. He is also credited with creating the first computer program.

14. Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)

He continued and expanded on Babbage’s works, as well as making unique contributions to the history of mathematics. He created the first algorithm designed specifically for use on a computer; so she is often cited as the first female programmer in history. His work has gained great interest in recent years.

15. James Maxwell (1831-1879)

Maxwell is known for his contributions to the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation; This is the first theory in history to describe light, magnetism and electricity. His ideas are considered the second great unification of physics. He developed a statistical model to explain the kinetic theory of gases.

16. David Hilbert (1862-1943)

Hilbert’s contributions are so extensive that they cannot be cited in this short section. He is considered the most important mathematician of the late 19th century and early 20th century.. He discovered ideas from the foundations of geometry, algebraic number theory, commutative algebra, invariant theory, and the calculus of variations.

17. Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920)

Although Ramanujan’s contributions have remained overshadowed for several decades, the truth is that he is one of the mathematicians who made history. Much of his training was self-taught, and He was considered a genius like no other in his time.

His contributions are felt in mathematical analysis, infinite series, continued fractions, and number theory.

18. John von Neumann (1903-1957)

He was considered the most important mathematician of his time, and among many fields he made contributions to functional analysis, representation theory, numerical analysis, topology, geometry, algebra, ergodic theory, and group theory. He also made contributions to physics, computing, statistics and economics..

19. Stanislaw Ulam (1909-1984)

Ulam went down in history for participating along with a dozen scientists in the Manhattan Project. Among other things, he discovered the concept of cellular automata, a computational model in force today. He contributed to both pure and applied mathematicsin addition to proposing theorems and conjectures.

20. Alan Turing (1912-1954)

He was one of the founding fathers of theoretical computing, where made contributions in the order of algorithms, computing and artificial intelligence.

Turing made fundamental contributions in cryptanalysis, which he developed practically during World War II. The interest and reward for his contributions have been relatively recent.

Alan Turing cracked the secret Nazi Enigma code during World War II.

As we have already warned, this list of mathematicians who made history falls short due to the hundreds of mathematicians who have made essential contributions. His legacy lives on in different objects and innovations that we can enjoy today.

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