Who is Leonhard Euler?

At the same time, he taught, consulted on practical problems for his patrons, and kept up an large correspondence. Euler til now wrote an "immensely popular" best-seller, Letters to a German Princess, found on littleons given to his patron's niece in "mechanics, physical optics, astronomy, sound" and otherwise subjects (Bell 152).

It is not easy to sum up such a career, but, as Bell noted, Euler had arrived at a time when analytic geometry, the calculus, and newfoundton's law of gravitation had all been in use for less than a century. Much of Euler's work consisted of mounting "a magisterial attack . . . against the whole of mathematics, pure and applied, as it then existed" (140). oddly in the fields of geometry and mathematical physics, Euler elaborated on these comparatively new methods of analysis. In exploiting what had been done, he prepared the way for ofttimes of what was to come.

Euler was born in Basel, Switzerland and entered the university there at the age of 13. By the time he was 16, he had received his master's degree in philosophy. Euler's gravel, a minister, had originally intended that Leonhard follow him in his profession. and his father enjoyed mathematics and had even attended the lectures of Jakob Bernoulli, one of a family of outstanding mathematicians, at the University of Basel. Therefore, when Euler wanted to pursue the study of mathematics, his father was convinced by the promise of Johannes Bernoulli (who had succeeded his brother) that Leonhard w

Youschkevitch, A. P. "Euler, Leonhard." Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Ed. Charles Coulston Gillispie. New York: Scribner's, 1971.

Works Cited

Dunham, William. The Mathematical Universe. New York: Wiley, 1994.

Euler had immediately begun to publish the memoirs, or reports, of his investigations in the proceedings of the honorary society. The bountiful publication program of the Academy allowed even Euler to publish as much as he wished.

The Academy had also founded a university, and the faculty's duties included the education and training of Russian scientists. In addition, the members of the Academy were expected to assist with the enormous project of mapping the Russian territories, and to devise solutions to various technological problems. Euler was even commissioner of weights and measures, performing the job's tasks and " writing essays on the construction and testing of scales and other apparatus of metre" (Rudolph E. Langer, qtd. in Kramer 215).

After Maupertuis' death in 1759, Euler was de facto head of the munificent Academy, but the appointment, and title, were never official. Frederick was never very sympathetic to Euler. The philosopher Voltaire, the captain ornament of the Academy, was scornful of Euler's theological conservatism and frequently ridiculed him when Euler, unwisely, linked in philosophical controversies. In 1766, Euler rejoined the St. Petersburg Academy which was flourishing chthonic the sponsorship of Catherine the Great. The Empress "received the mathematician as if he were royalty" and Euler spent the slumber of his life there (Bell 149).

Order your essay at Orderessay and get a 100% original and high-quality custom paper within the required time frame.