Who do you know about the greatest mathematicians? 15 of the best mathematicians

In my opinion, the following 15 people are very awesome:

First place: "The God of Mathematics" - Archimedes

Archie Mead was born in Syracuse, Sicily, at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula in 287 BC. His father is a mathematician and astronomer. Archimedes had a good family upbringing since he was a child. At the age of 11, he was sent to Alexandria, the cultural center of Greece at that time, to study. In this famous city known as the "City of Wisdom", Archimedes read widely and absorbed a lot of knowledge. He also became a disciple of Euclid's students Eratoses and Canon, and studied "Elements of Geometry" .

Later Archimedes became a great scholar who was both a mathematician and a mechanics scientist, and he was known as the "Father of Mechanics". The reason is that he discovered the lever principle through a large number of experiments, and used geometric evolution methods to derive many lever propositions and give strict proofs. Among them is the famous "Archimedes' Principle". He also has extremely brilliant achievements in mathematics. Although there are only about a dozen of Archimedes' works that have been handed down to this day, most of them are geometric works, which played a decisive role in promoting the development of mathematics.

"Sand Calculation" is a book dedicated to calculation methods and calculation theory. Archimedes wanted to calculate the number of sand grains filling the large sphere of the universe. He used a very strange imagination, established a new magnitude counting method, determined new units, and proposed a model to express any large quantity. This is consistent with logarithms. Operations are closely related.

"Measurement of a Circle" uses the circumscribed and inscribed 96 polygons of a circle to calculate the pi value: ＜π＜. This is the earliest π value in the history of mathematics that clearly points out the error limit. He also proved that the area of ??a circle is equal to the area of ??an equilateral triangle with the circumference as the base and the radius as the height; using the exhaustive method.

"Sphere and Cylinder", skillfully using the exhaustion method to prove that the surface area of ??the ball is equal to four times the area of ??the great circle of the ball; the volume of the ball is four times the volume of a cone, and the base of the cone is equal to the great circle of the ball. , the height is equal to the radius of the ball. Archimedes also pointed out that if there is an inscribed sphere in an equilateral cylinder, the total area of ??the cylinder and its volume are respectively the surface area and volume of the sphere. In this work, he also proposed the famous "Archimedes' Axiom".

"Parabolic Quadrature Method" studied the problem of quadrature of curved figures, and used the exhaustion method to establish this conclusion: "Any arc (i.e. parabola) surrounded by a straight line and a right-angled cone section , its area is one-third of the area of ??a triangle with the same base and the same height. "He also used the mechanical weight method to verify this conclusion again, successfully combining mathematics and mechanics.

"On Spirals" is Archimedes' outstanding contribution to mathematics. He clarified the definition of a spiral and how to calculate its area. In the same work, Archimedes also derived geometric methods for the summation of geometric and arithmetic series.

"Plane Balance" is the earliest scientific treatise on mechanics. It talks about the problem of determining the center of gravity of plane figures and three-dimensional figures.

"Floating Bodies" is the first monograph on fluid statics. Archimedes successfully applied mathematical reasoning to analyze the balance of floating bodies, and used mathematical formulas to express the laws of floating body balance.

"On Cones and Spheres" talks about determining the volume of a cone formed by rotating a parabola and a hyperbola around its axis, and the rotation of an ellipse around its major and minor axes. The volume of the spherical body.

The Danish mathematics historian Heiberg discovered in 1906 copies of Archimedes' letter to Eratosthe and some other works of Archimedes. Through research, it was found that these letters and manuscripts contained the idea of ??calculus. What he lacked was the concept of limits, but the essence of his thoughts extended to the field of infinitesimal analysis that became mature in the 17th century, foretelling the development of calculus. Birth.

Because of his outstanding contributions, the American E.T. Bell commented on Archimedes in "Mathematical Figures": Any list of the three greatest mathematicians in history. Among them, Archimedes must be included, and the other two are usually Newton and Gauss. However, comparing their magnificent achievements and the background of the times, or comparing their profound and long-lasting influence on contemporary and future generations, Archimedes should be the first to be mentioned.

Second place: Zu Chongzhi

Zu Chongzhi (429-500 AD) was a native of Laiyuan County, Hebei Province during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of my country. He read many books on astronomy and mathematics since he was a child. He was diligent, studious and practiced hard, which finally made him an outstanding mathematician and astronomer in ancient my country.

Zu Chongzhi’s outstanding achievement in mathematics was the calculation of pi. Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, people used "three days per week" as the pi rate, which was the "ancient pi rate". Later, it was discovered that the error of the ancient rate was too large. The pi should be "the diameter of a circle is one and the diameter of three is more than three." However, there are different opinions on how much there is. It was not until the Three Kingdoms period that Liu Hui proposed a scientific method for calculating pi - "circle cutting", which uses the circumference of a regular polygon inscribed in a circle to approximate the circumference of a circle. Liu Hui calculated that the circle is inscribed in 96 polygons and obtained π=3.14. He also pointed out that the more sides the inscribed regular polygon has, the more accurate the π value obtained. Based on the achievements of his predecessors, Zu Chongzhi worked hard and calculated repeatedly, and found that π is between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927. And the approximate value of π in the form of a fraction is obtained, which is taken as the approximate ratio and taken as the density. Taking six decimal places is 3.141929, which is the fraction closest to the value of π within 1000 in the numerator and denominator. Exactly what method Zu Chongzhi used to arrive at this result cannot be investigated now. If he were to calculate according to Liu Hui's "circle cutting" method, he would have to calculate that the circle is inscribed with 16,384 polygons. How much time and tremendous labor this would take! This shows that his tenacious perseverance and intelligence in scholarship are admirable. It was more than a thousand years later that foreign mathematicians obtained the same density calculated by Zu Chongzhi. In order to commemorate Zu Chongzhi's outstanding contribution, some foreign mathematics historians suggested calling π= "Zu rate".

Zu Chongzhi read the famous classics of the time and insisted on seeking truth from facts. He compared and analyzed a large amount of data from personal measurements and calculations, and found serious errors in the past calendars. He had the courage to improve them, and successfully compiled them when he was thirty-three years old. The "Da Ming Calendar" opened up a new era in the history of calendars.

Zu Chongzhi also used an ingenious method to solve the calculation of the volume of a sphere together with his son Zu Xun (also a famous mathematician in my country). A principle they adopted at the time was: "Since the power potentials are the same, the products are indifferent." That is to say, two solids located between two parallel planes are intercepted by any plane parallel to the two planes. If the two If the areas of the cross sections are always equal, then the volumes of the two solids are equal. This principle is called Cavalieri's principle in Spanish, but it was discovered by Cavalieri more than a thousand years after Zu. In order to commemorate the great contribution of Zu and his son in discovering this principle, everyone also calls this principle "Zu Xun's Principle".

Third place: The Father of Mathematics - Salles

Salles was born in 624 BC and was the first world-famous mathematician in ancient Greece. He was originally a very shrewd businessman. After accumulating considerable wealth by selling olive oil, Salles concentrated on scientific research and travel. He is diligent and studious, but at the same time he is not superstitious about the ancients. He has the courage to explore, create and think actively about problems. His hometown is not too far from Egypt, so he often travels to Egypt. There, Salles was introduced to the vast mathematical knowledge that the ancient Egyptians had accumulated over thousands of years. When he traveled to Egypt, he used an ingenious method to calculate the height of the pyramid, which made the ancient Egyptian King Amesses envious.

Sellars’ method is both ingenious and simple: choose a sunny day, erect a small wooden stick next to the pyramid, and then observe the changes in the length of the shadow of the stick until the length of the shadow is exactly equal to the length of the stick. At this moment, quickly measure the length of the shadow of the pyramid, because at this moment, the height of the pyramid happens to be equal to the length of the shadow. Some people also say that Salles calculated the height of the pyramid by using the ratio of the length of the stick's shadow to the tower's shadow, which is equal to the ratio of the height of the stick to the height of the tower. If this is the case, we need to use the mathematical theorem that the corresponding sides of a triangle are proportional. Salles boasted that he taught this method to the ancient Egyptians, but the truth may be exactly the opposite. It should be that the Egyptians had known similar methods for a long time, but they were only satisfied with knowing how to calculate without thinking about why. This way you can get the correct answer.

Before Salles, when people understood nature, they were only satisfied with what kind of explanations they could put forward for various things. The greatness of Salles was that he was not only able to make explanations explanation, and also added a scientific question mark as to why. The mathematical knowledge accumulated by the ancient Eastern people mainly consists of some calculation formulas summed up from experience.

Salles believes that the calculation formulas obtained in this way may be correct when used in one problem, but not necessarily correct in another problem. Only after they are theoretically proved to be universally correct can they be widely used. They solve real problems. In the early stages of the development of human culture, it is commendable that Salles consciously put forward such a point of view. It gives mathematics special scientific significance and is a huge leap in the history of mathematics development. So Salles is known as the father of mathematics, and this is why. Salles first proved the following theorem:

1. A circle is bisected by any diameter.

2. The two base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal.

3. When two straight lines intersect, their opposite vertex angles are equal.

4. The inscribed triangle of a semicircle must be a right triangle.

5. If two triangles have one side and two angles on this side are equal, then the two triangles are congruent. This theorem was also first discovered and proved by Salles, and later generations often call it Salles' theorem. According to legend, Salles was so happy after proving this theorem that he killed a bull and offered it to the gods. Later, he also used this theorem to calculate the distance between ships at sea and land.

Sales also made pioneering contributions to ancient Greek philosophy and astronomy. Historians definitely say that Salles should be regarded as the first astronomer. He often lay on his back to observe the constellations in the sky and explore the mysteries of the universe. His maid often joked that Salles wanted to know the distant sky, but ignored what was in front of him. Beauty. The historian of mathematics Herodotus has learned from various researches that day suddenly turned into night (actually a solar eclipse) after the battle of Hals, and before the battle, Seles predicted this to Delians.

Fourth place: Mathematics wizard - Galois

On the morning of May 30, 1832, a comatose young man was lying near Lake Grassell in Paris. The passing farmers judged from the gunshot wounds that he had been seriously injured after a duel, so they carried the unknown young man to the hospital. He passed away at ten o'clock the next morning. The youngest and most creative mind in the history of mathematics stopped thinking. It is said that his death delayed the development of mathematics for decades. This young man was Galois, who was under 21 years old when he died.

Galois was born in a small town not far from Paris. His father was a school principal and also served as mayor for many years. The influence of his family made Galois move forward courageously and fearlessly. In 1823, the 12-year-old Galois left his parents to study in Paris. Unsatisfied with the rigid classroom indoctrination, he went to study the most difficult original mathematics books on his own, and some teachers also gave him great help. Teachers commented on him that "it is only suitable to work in the cutting-edge fields of mathematics."

In 1828, the 17-year-old Galois began to study equation theory, created the concept and method of "permutation group", and solved the problem of equations that had caused headaches for hundreds of years. Galois's most important achievement was to propose the concept of "group" and use group theory to change the entire face of mathematics. In May 1829, Galois wrote his results into a paper and submitted it to the French Academy of Sciences. However, this masterpiece was accompanied by a series of blows and misfortunes. First, his father committed suicide because he could not bear the slander from the priests. Then, because his answers were both simple and profound, which dissatisfied the examiners, he failed to enter the famous Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. As for his paper, it was first considered to have too many new concepts and was too simple and required rewriting; the second manuscript with detailed derivation was missing due to the death of the reviewer; the third paper submitted in January 1831 was also rejected due to review issues. People cannot understand everything and are denied.

On the one hand, the young Galois pursued the true knowledge of mathematics, and on the other hand, he devoted himself to the cause of pursuing social justice. During the "July Revolution" in France in 1831, as a freshman at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Galois led the masses to take to the streets to protest against the king's autocratic rule, but was unfortunately arrested. While in prison, he contracted cholera. Even under such harsh conditions, Galois continued his mathematical research and wrote a paper to be published after he was released from prison. Not long after he was released from prison, he died in a duel because he was involved in a boring "love" entanglement.

It was 16 years after his death that the 60 pages of his surviving manuscript were published and his name spread throughout the scientific community.

Fifth place: Leonhard Euler (1707-1783 AD) was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1707. He entered the University of Basel at the age of 13 and obtained the most famous mathematics at the time. Under the careful guidance of Johann Bernoulli (1667-1748). Euler is the most prolific and outstanding mathematician in the history of science Euler

A mathematician. According to statistics, during his tireless life, he wrote 886 books and papers, including analysis, Algebra and number theory accounted for 40%, geometry accounted for 18%, physics and mechanics accounted for 28%, astronomy accounted for 11%, ballistics, navigation, architecture, etc. accounted for 3%. The Petersburg Academy of Sciences was very busy in sorting out his works. Forty-seven years. The great 19th century mathematician Gauss (1777-1855) once said: "Studying Euler's works is always the best way to understand mathematics." Excessive work caused him to suffer from eye disease, and unfortunately he became blind in his right eye. He is only 28 years old. In 1741, at the invitation of Peter the Great of Prussia, Euler went to Berlin to serve as the director of the Institute of Physics and Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences. He stayed there until 1766, and later returned to Petersburg with the sincere invitation of Tsar Catlin II. Unexpectedly, not long after, his left eye... Vision deteriorates, eventually leading to total blindness. Unfortunately, things happened one after another. In 1771, a great fire in Petersburg affected Euler's residence. The 64-year-old Euler, who was sick and blind, was trapped in the fire. Although he was rescued from the flames by others, his study remained intact. and a large number of research results were all reduced to ashes. The heavy blow still did not make Euler fall, and he vowed to regain the loss. Before he was completely blind, he could still see things dimly. He seized this last moment to quickly write the formula he discovered on a large blackboard, and then dictated its contents. His students, especially his eldest son A. Euler (mathematics) scientist and physicist) transcript. After Euler was completely blind, he still fought against the darkness with amazing perseverance and conducted research based on memory and mental arithmetic until his death, which lasted 17 years. Euler's memory and mental arithmetic ability are rare. He can recite the contents of his notes in his youth. Mental arithmetic is not limited to simple operations. Advanced mathematics can also be completed using mental arithmetic. Euler's style was very high. Lagrand corresponded with Euler from the age of 19 to discuss the general solution to the isoperimetric problem, which led to the birth of the calculus of variations. The isoperiod problem was something that Euler had painstakingly considered for many years. Lagrange's solution won Euler's warm praise. Euler maintained his abundant energy until the last moment. On the afternoon of September 18, 1783, Euler celebrated his Calculate the success of the law of ascent of balloons and treat friends to dinner. Not long after Uranus was discovered, Euler wrote out the essentials for calculating the orbit of Uranus and even laughed with his grandson. After drinking tea, he suddenly became ill and his pipe fell from his hand. , murmuring: "I'm dead." Euler finally "ceased life and calculation."

Sixth place: Gauss

Gauss [1] (Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss) (April 30, 1777 - February 1855 Gauss)

23 ), born in Braunschweig and died in G?ttingen, was a famous German mathematician, physicist, astronomer and geodesist. Gauss's achievements span all fields of mathematics, and he has made pioneering contributions in number theory, non-Euclidean geometry, differential geometry, hypergeometric series, complex variable function theory, and elliptic function theory. He paid great attention to the application of mathematics, and also focused on the use of mathematical methods in his research on astronomy, geodesy and magnetism. Although Gauss's family was poor when he was young, he was extremely intelligent and received funding from a nobleman to attend school for education. He studied at the University of G?ttingen from 1795 to 1798, and transferred to the University of Helmstedt in 1798. The following year he received a doctorate for proving the fundamental theorem of algebra. From 1807 he served as professor at the University of G?ttingen and director of the G?ttingen Observatory until his death. In 1792, 15-year-old Gauss entered Braunschweig Academy. There, Gauss began to conduct research on advanced mathematics. Independently discovered the general form of the binomial theorem, the "Law of Quadratic Reciprocity" in number theory, the "prime numer theorem", and the "arithmetic-geometric mean" ).

Gauss entered the University of G?ttingen in 1795. In 1796, the 19-year-old Gauss obtained a very important result in the history of mathematics, which was "Theory and Method of Construction of Regular Heptagonal Rule and Compass". Five years later, Gauss proved that regular polygons with sides like "Fermat primes" could be made using rulers and compasses. In the early morning of February 23, 1855, Gauss died in his sleep.

Seventh place: Newton

Isaac Newton was a great British mathematician, physicist, astronomer and natural philosopher. His research fields include Physics, mathematics, astronomy, theology, natural philosophy and alchemy. Newton's main contributions include the invention of calculus, the discovery of the law of universal gravitation and classical mechanics, the design and actual manufacture of the first reflecting telescope, etc. He is known as the greatest and most influential scientist in human history. In order to commemorate Newton's outstanding achievements in classical mechanics, "Newton" later became a physical unit for measuring the size of force.

Eighth: The ancestor of modern science: Descartes

Rene Descartes was born on March 31, 1596 in Touraine, France. Descartes was a great philosopher, physicist, mathematician, and physiologist. Founder of analytic geometry. Descartes was one of the founders of modern bourgeois philosophy in Europe, and Hegel called him the "father of modern philosophy." He formed his own system, integrating materialism and idealism, and had a profound influence on the history of philosophy. At the same time, he was a scientist who had the courage to explore. The analytic geometry he established had epoch-making significance in the history of mathematics. Descartes is one of the most influential giants in European philosophy and science in the 17th century, and is known as the "ancestor of modern science."

Ninth place: Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm van Leibniz, Germany’s most important natural scientist, mathematician, and physicist , historian and philosopher, a rare scientific genius in the world, and the founder of calculus together with Newton (January 4, 1643 - March 31, 1727). His research results also cover mechanics, logic, chemistry, geography, anatomy, zoology, botany, gasology, navigation, geology, linguistics, law, philosophy, history, diplomacy, etc., "in the world "No two leaves are exactly the same" came from his mouth. He was also the first German to study Chinese culture and philosophy, and made an indelible contribution to enriching the treasure house of scientific knowledge of mankind.

Tenth place: Lagrange

Joseph Lagrange, full name Joseph-Louis Lagrange (Joseph-Louis Lagrange 1735~1813) French mathematics Home, physicist. Born in Turin, Italy on January 25, 1736, died in Paris on April 10, 1813. He has made historic contributions in the three disciplines of mathematics, mechanics and astronomy, among which his achievements in mathematics are the most outstanding.

In the past hundred years, many new achievements in the field of mathematics can be directly or indirectly traced to Lagrange's work. Therefore, he is considered in the history of mathematics as one of the mathematicians who had a comprehensive impact on the development of analytical mathematics. Known as "Europe's largest mathematician".

No. 11: King of Amateur Mathematicians—Fermat

Fermat never received any specialized mathematical education in his life, and mathematical research was nothing more than an amateur hobby. However, there was no mathematician in France in the 17th century who could rival him: he was one of the inventors of analytic geometry; his contribution to the birth of calculus was second only to Isaac Newton and Gottfried. ·Wilhelm van Leibniz, the main founder of probability theory and the sole heir to number theory in the 17th century. In addition, Fermat also made important contributions to physics. Fermat, a generation of mathematical genius, can be called one of the greatest French mathematicians in the 17th century.

Twelfth place: Hua Luogeng

Hua Luogeng (1910.11.12-1985.6.12.), world-famous mathematician, Chinese analytic number theory, matrix geometry, typical groups, and self-anthropology The founder and pioneer of many aspects of research including function theory. International mathematical research achievements named after Fahrenheit include "Fahrenheit's Theorem", "Wye-Wah's Inequality", "Fahrenheit's Inequality", "Prouwell-Gardener's Theorem", "Fahrenheit Operator", "Fahrenheit - King's method" etc.

Thirteenth: Liu Hui

Liu Hui (born around 250 AD) is a very great mathematician in the history of Chinese mathematics. His masterpiece "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" Notes" and "Haidao Suan Jing" are China's most precious mathematical heritage. Liu Hui is quick in thought and flexible in method. He advocates both reasoning and intuition. He was the first person in China to clearly advocate the use of logical reasoning to demonstrate mathematical propositions. Liu Hui's life was a life of diligent exploration of mathematics. Although he has a low status, he has a noble personality. He is not a mediocre person seeking fame, but a great man who never tires of learning. He has left a precious wealth to our Chinese nation.

Fourteenth: Pythagoras

Pythagoras (572 BC?-497 BC?) was an ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher. Whether explaining the external material world or describing the inner spiritual world, mathematics is indispensable! The first person to realize that the law of number is at work behind everything was Pythagoras who lived 2,500 years ago. Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos in the Aegean Sea (a small island in today's eastern Greece). He was smart and studious since he was a child. He studied geometry, natural science and philosophy under famous teachers. Later, because of yearning for the wisdom of the East, he traveled through thousands of rivers and mountains to Babylon, India and Egypt (disputed), and absorbed Arab civilization and Indian civilization (480 BC).

Fifteenth place: Thales

A thinker, scientist, and philosopher in ancient Greece, the earliest philosophical school in Greece - the Milesian School (also known as the Ionian School) ) founder. One of the Seven Sages of Greece, the first thinker whose name has been recorded in the history of Western thought. "The father of science and philosophy", Thales was the first natural scientist and philosopher in ancient Greece and the West. Thales's students included Anaximander, Anaximenes and others.

Thales’ epoch-making contribution in mathematics was the introduction of the idea of ??proposition proof. It marks the rise of people's understanding of objective things from experience to theory, which is an unusual leap in the history of mathematics. The important significance of introducing logical proof in mathematics is: to ensure the correctness of propositions; to reveal the internal connections between the theorems, so that mathematics forms a rigorous system and lay the foundation for further development; to make mathematical propositions fully convincing Powerful, convincing. He has discovered many theorems of plane geometry, such as: "The diameter bisects the circumference", "Two equal sides of a triangle have equal angles", "When two straight lines intersect, their opposite vertex angles are equal", "Two angles of a triangle and their included sides" It is known that this triangle is completely determined", "the angle of the circle subtended by the semicircle is a right angle", etc. Although these theorems are simple and may have been known to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, Thales organized them into general propositions, Their rigor is demonstrated and widely used in practice. It is said that he could use a benchmark to measure and calculate the height of the pyramid. It is said that one spring, Thales came to Egypt. People wanted to test his ability and asked him if he could solve this problem. Thales confidently said yes, but on one condition - the Pharaoh must be present. The next day, the Pharaoh arrived as promised, and many people gathered around the pyramid to watch. Thales came to the pyramid, and the sunlight cast his shadow on the ground. Every once in a while, he would have someone measure the length of his shadow. When the measurement matched his height perfectly, he would immediately mark the projection of the Great Pyramid on the ground, and then measure the distance from the base of the pyramid to the projected spire. In this way, he reported the exact height of the pyramid. At the request of the Pharaoh, he explained to everyone how to push the principle from "the length of the shadow is equal to the length of the body" to "the shadow of the tower is equal to the height of the tower". This is what is known today as the similar triangle theorem. In science, he advocated rationality and was not satisfied with the special understanding of intuition and perceptuality, but advocated abstract rational general knowledge. For example, the fact that the two base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal does not refer to individual isosceles triangles that we can draw, but to "all" isosceles triangles. This requires demonstration and reasoning to ensure the correctness of mathematical propositions and to make mathematics theoretically rigorous and widely applicable. Thales's active advocacy laid the foundation for Pythagoras to create rational mathematics.