Bio of a Mathematician: Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)
I read this biographical sketch while studying Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, Sixth Edition, by Kenneth H. Rosen (these paragraphs are on page 635 of the International Marketplace Edition of the text).
Leonhard Euler was the son of a Calvinist minister from the vicinity of Basel, Switzerland. At 13 he entered the University of Basel, pursuing a career in theology, as his father wished. At the university Euler was tutored by Johann Bernoulli of the famous Bernoulli family of mathematicians. His interest and skills led him to abandon his theological studies and take up mathematics. Euler obtained his master’s degree in philosophy at the age of 16. In 1727 Peter the Great invited him to join the Academy at St. Petersburg. In 1741 he moved to the Berlin Academy, where he stayed until 1766. He then returned to St. Petersburg, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Euler was incredibly prolific, contributing to many areas of mathematics, including number theory, combinatorics, and analysis, as well as its applications to such areas as music and naval architecture. He wrote over 1100 books and papers and left so much unpublished work that it took 47 years after he died for all his work to be published. During his life his papers accumulated so quickly that he kept a large pile of articles awaiting publication. The Berlin Academy published the papers on top of this pile so later results were often published before the results they depended on or superseded. Euler had 13 children and was able to continue his work while a child or two bounced on his knees. He was blind for the last 17 years of his life, but because of his fantastic memory this did not diminish his mathematical output. The project of publishing his collected works, undertaken by the Swiss Society of Natural Science, is ongoing and will require more than 75 volumes.
The accomplishments of Leonhard Euler were certainly impressive, ones that ought to encourage me to strive for greater accomplishment in all areas of learning that I am pursuing.