THE 31 MOST FAMOUS AND IMPORTANT MATHEMATICIANS IN HISTORY - SCIENCE - 2024

There are famous mathematicians who have stood out throughout history for their achievements and importance of their contributions to this formal science. Some of them have had a great passion for numbers, making discoveries regarding equations, measurements, and other numerical solutions that have changed the course of history.

They looked for ways to understand the world when it comes to numbers and their contributions have been very important to their generations and beyond. Here is a list of the most outstanding in history.

Top 31 most important mathematicians in history

1- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

• Nationality: German, American
• Famous for: E = m * c²

Albert Einstein excelled in mathematics from childhood. He liked to study mathematics on his own. He once said, "I never failed in mathematics, before I was fifteen I had mastered the differential integral calculus."

He also said: “Mathematical propositions, insofar as they have to do with reality, are not true; and insofar as they are true, they have nothing to do with reality ”.

Discoveries:

• The Brownian movement
• The photoelectric effect
• Special Relativity
• The mass-energy equivalence
• General relativity

2- Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

• English nationality
• Famous for: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

Sir Isaac Newton's book, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, became the catalyst for the understanding of mechanics. She is also the person credited for developing the binomial theorem.

Discoveries:

• The centripetal force
• The decomposition of light into colors
• Universal gravitation
• Kepler's Laws
• The corpuscular hypothesis of light
• Newtonian mechanics
• The optics
• Laws of motion

3- Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (1170-1250)

• Nationality: Italian
• Famous For: The Fibonacci Sequence

Leonardo Pisano, better known as Fibonacci, was considered "the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages."

He introduced the Arabic-Hindu number system to the Western world. In his book, Liber Abaci (Book of Calculus), he included a sequence of numbers that today are known as "Fibonacci numbers."

4- Thales of Miletus (624 BC - 547/546 BC)

• Nationality: Greek
• Famous for: He is the father of physics and is famous for his theorem

Thales used the principles of mathematics, specifically geometry, to solve everyday problems.

He is regarded as the "first true mathematician." Its principles of deductive reasoning are applied in geometry. Thales' theorem is used to divide a segment into several equal parts.

5- Pythagoras (570 BC - 495 BC)

• Nationality: Greek
• Famous For: Pythagorean Theorem, Irrational Numbers, Regular Solids

The Pythagorean theorem says that in a right triangle: "the sum of the squares of the legs is equal to the square of the hypotenuse."

Pythagoras also devised the "Tetraktys", a triangular figure made up of ten points arranged in four rows.

6- René Descartes (1596-1650)

• Nationality: French
• Famous for: Cartesian coordinate system and for the systematization of analytic geometry

The "Cartesian Coordinate System" in mathematics is named after René Descartes. As a mathematician, he is seen as the father of analytic geometry, in addition he explained the infinitesimal calculus. He also invented the method of exponents.

7- Archimedes (287 BC -212 BC)

• Nationality: Greek
• Famous for: He was the greatest mathematician of antiquity

Archimedes provided principles and methods used in mathematics today. These included the exact numerical value of pi, the development of a system for expressing large numbers, and the method of exhaustion.

He invented the Lever Law, which states that two weights are in equilibrium when they are at distances inversely proportional to their weights. He enunciated the principle of the lever: "Give me a fulcrum and I will move the Earth."

Archimedes' Principle: Every body immersed in a fluid experiences a vertical and upward thrust equal to the weight of fluid dislodged.

8- John Forbes Nash, Jr. (1928-2015)

• American nationality
• Famous For: Nash Embedding Theorem

Economist, Nobel Prize in economics in 1994 for his contributions to game theory and negotiation processes.

The work of the American mathematician John Nash includes studies in differential geometry, game theory, and partial differential equations. It is best known for Nash's Embedding Theorem. His work in algebraic geometry is also considered a milestone in mathematics.

9- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

• Nationality: French
• Famous For: Pascal's Triangle

Pascal is recognized for two mathematical areas of study, projective geometry and probability theory. Blaise Pascal invented the first calculator. He found that atmospheric pressure decreases as height increases.

Pascal's triangle: Triangular arrangement of the binomial coefficients in a triangle.

10- Euclid (365 BC- 275 BC)

• Nationality: Greek
• Famous for: He is the father of geometry. His most famous work "Elements"

The earliest known "math books" are one written by the Greek mathematician Euclid. Serves as a textbook for teaching geometry and math. His mathematical system is known as "Euclidean geometry." With regard to mathematics, Euclides stated: "In mathematics there are no real paths."

The five principles of Euclid:

1. A straight line can be drawn through two points.
2. A straight line can be extended indefinitely from a finite line.
3. A circle with a given center and radius can be drawn.
4. All right angles are equal.
5. If a straight line that intersects two other lines forms interior angles on the same side whose sum is less than two straight lines, the last two lines prolonged indefinitely intersect on the side where the sum of the angles is less than two straight lines.

11- Aryabhata (476-550)

• Nationality: India

Famous for Scripture Āryabhaṭīya and the Arya-siddhanta. It is also known by solving the quadratic equation. Some regard him as the father of decimal numbering.

The contribution of the Indian mathematician Aryabhatta includes his work in providing an approximate value for pi. He also touched on the concepts of sine, cosine, and the place value system. He also stated that the stars are fixed and the Earth rotates.

12- Ptolemy (90 -168)

• Nationality: Greco-Romana

Ptolemy was famous for the Almagest or mathematical compilation, a 13-book treatise where he explains the movement of the Sun, Moon, and planets.

His model of the Universe is based on the idea that the Earth was immobile and the center of the Universe, and that the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars, revolved around it.

13- Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)

• British nationality
• Famous For: Analytical Engine Work

Ada Lovelace is recognized as the world's first computer programmer. Her math skills were evident at a young age. As part of her work, she produced a mathematical algorithm that would later be used in computers.

She thought that “imagination is the faculty of discovery, preeminently. It is what penetrates the worlds never seen around us, the worlds of science ”. The first programming language was named ADA in honor of her.

14- Alan Turing (1912-1954)

• Nationality: British
• Famous for: He is the father of computing and modern computing

Turing's fame as a mathematician can be attributed to his formulation of algorithms and calculations for a computer, the Turing machine.

His mathematical knowledge aided the device's code-breaking techniques, specifically in World War II.

In 1948 Turing became interested in mathematical biology. He cracked the Nazi "unbreakable" code called Enigma and thanks to it, it can be said that the Nazis lost World War II.

15- Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920)

• Nationality: India
• Famous For: Constante Landau-Ramanujan

Theorems and discoveries:

1. Property of highly composite numbers
2. Ramanujan theta function
3. Partition functions and their asymptotics

Ramanujan was a genius in mathematics. It helped expand mathematical theory, particularly in continued fractions, infinite series, mathematical analysis, and number theory. He carried out mathematical research in isolation.

16- Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)

• Nationality: American
• Famous for: Calculating a solar eclipse

Benjamin Banneker was a self-taught mathematician. He used his mathematical skills to predict an eclipse and the seventeen-year cycle of locusts.

17- Omar Khayyám (1048 - 1131)

• Nationality: Persian
• Famous for: Treatise on the proof of problems in algebra. He studied cubic equations and solved some of them

Omar Khayyám wrote one of the most important books in mathematics, the Treatise on the Proving of Algebra Problems. In the area of ​​geometry, Khayyám worked on the "theory of proportions."

18- Eratosthenes (276 BC - 194 BC)

• Nationality: Greek
• Famous for: The Platonicus, the Sieve of Eratosthenes. He was the first to calculate the radius of the Earth

Eratosthenes provided the concept of a simple algorithm as a way of locating prime numbers. The Eratosthenes sieve has been used to find prime numbers.

19- John von Neumann (1903-1957)

• Nationality: Hungarian
• Famous For: Operator Theory and Quantum Mechanics

The mathematical evaluation of self-replication by John von Neumann came before the DNA model was introduced. Other mathematical topics he addressed include "mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics," "game theory," mathematics, and mathematical economics. His contribution to the study of "operator theory" is an extremely important contribution.

20- Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665)

• Nationality: French
• Famous For: Fermat's Last Theorem

As an amateur mathematician, de Fermat is given recognition for his work that has led to the infinitesimal calculus. He applied the use of "adequacy" to explain his mathematical constructions. He also contributed to the mathematical fields of analytical geometry, differential calculus, and number theory.

21- John Napier (1550-1617)

• Nationality: Scottish
• Famous for: His contributions to applied mathematics consist of methods that helped simplify the numerical calculation used in applied mathematics. He also developed logarithms

John Napier is responsible for manufacturing logarithms. It was also he who applied the daily use of the decimal point in mathematics and arithmetic. There is a mathematical unit of measurement related to the telecommunications area that was dedicated to him: The neper or neperio.

22- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)

• Nationality: German
• Famous For: The Infinitesimal Calculus

Leibniz's work on the infinitesimal calculus was completely separate from Isaac Newton's study. Its mathematical notation is still in use.

He also proposed the mathematical principle known as the Transcendental Law of Homogeneity. His refinement of the binary system has become a foundation in mathematics.

23- Andrew Wiles (1953)

• Nationality: British
• Famous For: Proving Fermat's Last Theorem

Andrew Wiles was successful in proving "Fermat's Last Theorem." He also used "Iwasawa's theory" to identify elliptical curves using his complex multiplication system. Wiles, with a colleague, worked on rational numbers under the "Iwasawa theory."

24- David Hilbert (1862-1943)

• Nationality: German
• Famous For: Hilbert's Base Theorem

In cumulative algebra, the use of "Hilbert's basis theory" has produced variable results. David Hilbert explored and improved such ideas as "axiomatization of geometry" and "invariant theory." Functional analysis, a branch of mathematical analysis, is based on the formulation of "Hilbert's theory of spaces."

25- Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782)

• Swiss nationality
• Famous for: Bernoulli's principle or dynamic theory of fluids

Hydrodynamics by Daniel Bernoulli was a book that addressed the mathematical principles applied in other sciences. I also provide the theoretical explanation of gas pressure on the walls of a container:

"Throughout any fluid current the total energy per unit mass is constant, being constituted by the sum of pressure, kinetic energy per unit volume and potential energy also per unit volume."

26- Luca Pacioli (1445 - 1517)

• Nationality: Italian
• Famous for: He is known as the father of accounting. He was also a pioneer in the calculation of probabilities.

The 15th century friar and mathematician Luca Pacioli developed an accounting or accounting methods that are still used today. Because of this, Pacioli is seen by many as the "father of accounting."

Fundamental principles:

1. There is no debtor without a creditor.
2. The amount owed to one or more accounts must be equal to what is paid.
3. Everyone who receives owes the person who gives or delivers.
4. All value that enters is debtor and all value that leaves is creditor
5. All losses are debit and all credit gains.

27- Georg Cantor (1845-1918)

• Nationality: German
• Famous For: Inventor of Set Theory

One of the basic theories in mathematics is set theory, thanks to the work of Georg Cantor. It helped define the importance of the principle of "one-to-one correspondence," as well as introducing cardinal and ordinal numbers.

28- George Boole (1815-1864)

• English nationality
• Famous For: Boolean Algebra

George Boole and his ideas on mathematics were in the field of algebraic logic and differential equations. He is the source of what is known as "Boolean logic" in algebra. This and other mathematical concepts are part of his book "The Laws of Thought."

29- Sophie Germain (1776-1831)

• Nationality: French
• Famous for: The Prime Numbers of Sophie Germain and studies of mathematical physics with an investigation on the theory of elasticity.

Sophie Germain worked extensively in the mathematical field of number theory and differential geometry.

30- Emmy Noether (1882-1935)

• German nationality
• Famous For: Abstract Algebra

Emmy Noether and her work on abstract algebra make it one of the most important mathematics of its time. She introduced theories on algebraic variants and number fields.

In Noether's article, Ring Domain Theory of Ideals, he presented his ideas on the "commutative ring," a sub-area of ​​abstract algebra.

31- Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855)

• German nationality
• Famous for: Gaussian function

"The prince of mathematicians" is known for his number theory, the Gaussian function or his contribution to mathematical analysis or algebra. He appears last on the list, but he is possibly the most important mathematician in history.

References

1. Sexton, M. (2010). Top 10 Greatest Mathematicians. 1-17-2017, from ListVerse.
2. Salmerón, M. (2012). Marie-Sophie Germain: Mathematics as a life strategy. 1-17-2017, from Universidad Veracruzana.
3. Allen, J. (1999). Hundred Greatest Mathematicians of the Past. 1-17-2017, from «Fabulous» Pedigree.
4. The famous people. (2016). Mathematicians. 1-17-2017, by Famous People.
5. Famous Mathematicians ORG. (2013). Famous Mathematicians. 1-17-2017, from famous-mathematicians.org.