Srinivasa Ramanujan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Ramanujan" redirects here. For other uses, see Ramanujan (disambiguation).
Srinivasa Ramanujan FRS
pronunciation (helpinfo) (Tamil:
) (22 December 1887 26 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician and autodidact who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions tomathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions. Ramanujan was said to be a natural genius by the English mathematician G.H. Hardy, in the same league as mathematicians like Euler and Gauss.[1] Born in a poor Brahmin family, Ramanujan's introduction to formal mathematics began at age 10. He demonstrated a natural ability, and was given books on advanced trigonometrywritten by S. L. Loney that he mastered by the age of 12; he even discovered theorems of his own, and rediscovered Euler's identity independently.[2] He demonstrated unusual mathematical skills at school, winning accolades and awards. By 17, Ramanujan had conducted his own mathematical research on Bernoulli numbers and the EulerMascheroni constant. Ramanujan received a scholarship to study at Government College in Kumbakonam, but lost it when he failed his nonmathematical coursework. He joined another college to pursue independent mathematical research, working as a clerk in the Accountant-General's office at the Madras Port Trust Office to support himself.[3] In 19121913, he sent samples of his theorems to three academics at the University of Cambridge. G. H. Hardy, recognizing the brilliance of his work, invited Ramanujan to visit and work with him atCambridge. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Srinivasa died of illness, malnutrition, and possibly liver infection in 1920 at the age of 32. During his short lifetime, Ramanujan independently compiled nearly 3900 results (mostlyidentities and equations).[4] Most of his claims have now been proven correct, although a small number of these results were actually false and some were already known.[5] He stated results that were both original and highly unconventional, such as the Ramanujan prime and the Ramanujan theta function, and these have inspired a vast amount of further research.[6] However, the mathematical mainstream has been rather slow in absorbing some of his major discoveries. The Ramanujan Journal, an international publication, was launched to publish work in all areas of mathematics influenced by his work. [7] In December 2011, in recognition of his contribution to mathematics, the Government of India declared that Ramanujan's birthday (22 December) should be celebrated every year as National Mathematics Day, and also declared 2012 the National Mathematical Year.[8][9]
Aryabhata
Aryabhata (IAST: ryabhaa, Sanskrit: ) or Aryabhata I[1][2] (476 550 CE)[3][4]was the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His most famous works are the ryabhaya (499 CE, when he was 23 years old)[5] and the Arya-siddhanta.
Biography
Name
While there is a tendency to misspell his name as "Aryabhatta" by analogy with other names having the "bhatta" suffix, his name is properly spelled Aryabhata: every astronomical text spells his name thus,[6] including Brahmagupta's references to him "in more than a hundred places by name".[7] Furthermore, in most instances "Aryabhatta" does not fit the metre either.[6]
Time and Place of birth
Aryabhata mentions in the Aryabhatiya that it was composed 3,630 years into the Kali Yuga, when he was 23 years old. This corresponds to 499 CE, and implies that he was born in 476.[4] Aryabhata was born in Taregna (literally, song of the stars), which is a small town in Bihar, India, about 30 km (19 mi) from Patna (then known as Pataliputra), the capital city of Bihar State. Evidences justify his birth there. In Taregna Aryabhata set up an Astronomical Observatory in the Sun Temple 6th century. There is no evidence that he was born outside Patliputra and traveled to Magadha, the centre of instruction, culture and knowledge for his studies where he even set up a coaching institute.[8] However, early Buddhist texts describe Ashmaka as being further south, indakshinapath or the Deccan, while other texts describe the Ashmakas as having fought Alexander.
Education
It is fairly certain that, at some point, he went to Kusumapura for advanced studies and lived there for some time. [9] Both Hindu and Buddhist tradition, as well as Bhskara I (CE 629), identify Kusumapura as Paliputra, modern Patna.[6] A verse mentions that Aryabhata was the head of an institution (kulapati) at Kusumapura, and, because the university of Nalanda was in Pataliputra at the time and had an astronomical observatory, it is speculated that Aryabhata might have been the head of the Nalanda university as well.[6]Aryabhata is also reputed to have set up an observatory at the Sun temple in Taregana, Bihar.[10]
Other hypotheses
Some archeological evidence suggests that Aryabhata could have originated from the present day Kodungallur which was the historical capital city of Thiruvanchikkulam of ancient Kerala.[11] For instance, one hypothesis was that amaka (Sanskrit for "stone") may be the region in Kerala that is now known as Kouallr, based on the belief that it was earlier known as Koum-Kal-l-r ("city of hard stones"); however, old records show that the city was actually Koum-kol-r ("city of strict governance"). Similarly, the fact that several commentaries on the Aryabhatiya have come from Kerala were used to suggest that it was Aryabhata's main place of life and activity; however, many commentaries have come from outside Kerala.
Pythagoras
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Pythagoras (disambiguation). Pythagoras of Samos (Ancient Greek: [ in Ionian Greek] Pythagras ho Smios "Pythagoras the Samian", or simply ; b. about 570 d. about 495 BC[1][2]) was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him. He was born on the island of Samos, and might have travelled widely in his youth, visiting Egypt and other places seeking knowledge. Around 530 BC, he moved to Croton, a Greek colony in southern Italy, and there set up a religious sect. His followers pursued the religious rites and practices developed by Pythagoras, and studied his philosophical theories. The society took an active role in the politics of Croton, but this eventually led to their downfall. The Pythagorean meeting-places were burned, and Pythagoras was forced to flee the city. He is said to have ended his days in Metapontum. Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religious teaching in the late 6th century BC. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist, but he is best known for the Pythagorean theorem which bears his name. However, because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than with the other pre-Socratic philosophers, one can give account of his teachings to a little extent, and some have questioned whether he contributed much to mathematics and natural philosophy. Many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors. Whether or not his disciples believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality is unknown. It was said that he was the first man to call himself a philosopher, or lover of wisdom,[3] and Pythagorean ideas exercised a marked influence on Plato, and through him, all of Western philosophy.
Biographical sources
Accurate facts about the life of Pythagoras are so few, and most information concerning him is of so late a date, and so untrustworthy, that it is impossible to provide more than a vague outline of his life. The lack of information by contemporary writers, together with the secrecy which surrounded the Pythagorean brotherhood, meant that invention took the place of facts. The stories which were created were eagerly sought by the Neoplatonist writers who provide most of the details about Pythagoras, but who were uncritical concerning anything which related to the gods or which was considered divine.[4] Thus many myths were created such as that Apollo was his father; that Pythagoras gleamed with a supernatural brightness; that he had a golden thigh; that Abaris came flying to him on a goldenarrow; that he was seen in different places at one and the same time.[5] With the exception of a few remarks by Xenophanes,Heraclitus, Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, and Isocrates, we are mainly dependent on Diogenes Lartius, Porphyry, and Iamblichus for the biographical details. Aristotle had written a separate work on the Pythagoreans, which unfortunately has not survived.[6] His disciplesDicaearchus, Aristoxenus, and Heraclides Ponticus had written on the same subject. These writers, late as they are, were among the best sources from whom Porphyry and Iamblichus drew, besides the legendary accounts and their own inventions. Hence historians are often reduced to considering the statements based on their inherent probability, but even then, if all the credible stories concerning Pythagoras were supposed true, his range of activity would be impossibly vast. [7]
Euclid
Euclid ( /jukld/ EWK-lid; Ancient Greek: Eukleids), fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I (323283 BC). HisElements is one of the most influential works in the history of mathematics, serving as the main textbook for teaching mathematics (especially geometry) from the time of its publication until the late 19th or early 20th century.[1][2][3] In the Elements, Euclid deduced the principles of what is now called Euclidean geometry from a small set of axioms. Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, number theory andrigor. "Euclid" is the anglicized version of the Greek name , meaning "Good Glory".[4]
Life
Little is known about Euclid's life, as there are only a handful of references to him. The date and place of Euclid's birth and the date and circumstances of his death are unknown, and only roughly estimated in proximity to contemporary figures mentioned in references. No likeness or description of Euclid's physical appearance made during his lifetime survived antiquity. Therefore, Euclid's depiction in works of art is the product of the artist's imagination. The few historical references to Euclid were written centuries after he lived, by Proclus and Pappus of Alexandria.[5] Proclus introduces Euclid only briefly in his fifth-century Commentary on the Elements, as the author of Elements, that he was mentioned by Archimedes, and that when King Ptolemy asked if there was a shorter path to learning geometry than Euclid's Elements, "Euclid replied there is no royal road to geometry."[6] Although the purported citation of Euclid by Archimedes has been judged to be an interpolation by later editors of his works, it is still believed that Euclid wrote his works before those of Archimedes.[7][8][9] In addition, the "royal road" anecdote is questionable since it is similar to a story told about Menaechmus and Alexander the Great.[10] In the only other key reference to Euclid, Pappus briefly mentioned in the fourth century that Apollonius "spent a very long time with the pupils of Euclid at Alexandria, and it was thus that he acquired such a scientific habit of thought."[11] It is further believed that Euclid may have studied atPlato's Academy in Athens.
Elements
Although many of the results in Elements originated with earlier mathematicians, one of Euclid's accomplishments was to present them in a single, logically coherent framework, making it easy to use and easy to reference, including a system of rigorousmathematical proofs that remains the basis of mathematics 23 centuries later.[13] There is no mention of Euclid in the earliest remaining copies of the Elements, and most of the copies say they are "from the edition of Theon" or the "lectures of Theon",[14] while the text considered to be primary, held by the Vatican, mentions no author. The only reference that historians rely on of Euclid having written the Elementswas from Proclus, who briefly in his Commentary on the Elements ascribes Euclid as its author. Although best known for its geometric results, the Elements also includes number theory. It considers the connection between perfect numbers and Mersenne primes, theinfinitude of prime numbers, Euclid's lemma on factorization (which leads to the fundamental theorem of arithmetic on uniqueness ofprime factorizations), and the Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers.
Leonhard Euler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Euler" redirects here. For other uses, see Euler (disambiguation). Leonhard Euler (German pronunciation: [l], ( pronunciation (helpinfo)) (
[1]
Swiss German
Standard German pronunciation (helpinfo)) English
approximation, "Oiler"; 15 April 1707 18 September 1783) was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion of a mathematical function.[2] He is also renowned for his work in mechanics, fluid dynamics, optics, and astronomy. Euler spent most of his adult life in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in Berlin, Prussia. He is considered to be the preeminent mathematician of the 18th century, and one of the greatest of all time. He is also one of the most prolific mathematicians ever; his collected works fill 60 80 quarto volumes.[3] A statement attributed to PierreSimon Laplaceexpresses Euler's influence on mathematics: "Read Euler, read Euler, he is the master of us
[edit]Early
years
Old Swiss 10 Franc banknote honoring Euler
Euler was born on April 15, 1707, in Basel to Paul Euler, a pastor of the Reformed Church. His mother was Marguerite Brucker, a pastor's daughter. He had two younger sisters named Anna Maria and Maria Magdalena. Soon after the birth of Leonhard, the Eulers moved from Basel to the town of Riehen, where Euler spent most of his childhood. Paul Euler was a friend of the Bernoulli familyJohann Bernoulli, who was then regarded as Europe's foremost mathematician, would eventually be the most important influence on young Leonhard. Euler's early formal education started in Basel, where he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother. At the age of thirteen he enrolled at the University of Basel, and in 1723, received his Master of Philosophy with a dissertation that compared the philosophies of Descartes and Newton. At this time, he was receiving Saturday afternoon lessons from Johann Bernoulli, who quickly discovered his new pupil's incredible talent for mathematics.[5] Euler was at this point studying theology, Greek, and Hebrew at his father's urging, in order to become a pastor, but Bernoulli convinced Paul Euler that Leonhard was destined to become a great mathematician. In 1726, Euler completed a dissertation on thepropagation of sound with the title De Sono.[6] At that time, he was pursuing an (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to obtain a position at the University of Basel. In 1727, he entered the Paris Academy Prize Problemcompetition, where the problem that year was to find the best way to place the masts on a ship. He won second place, losing only toPierre Bouguera man now known as "the father of naval architecture". Euler subsequently won this coveted annual prize twelve times in his career.[7]
[edit]St.
Petersburg
Around this time Johann Bernoulli's two sons, Daniel and Nicolas, were working at the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg. On July 10, 1726, Nicolas died of appendicitis after spending a year in Russia, and when Daniel assumed his brother's position in the mathematics/physics division, he recommended that the post in physiology that he had vacated be filled by his friend Euler. In November 1726 Euler eagerly accepted the offer, but delayed making the trip to St Petersburg while he unsuccessfully applied for a physics professorship at the University of Basel. [8]
John von Neumann
John von Neumann ( /vn nmn/; December 28, 1903 February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields,[1] including mathematics (set theory, functional analysis, ergodic theory, geometry, numerical analysis, and many other mathematical fields), physics (quantum mechanics,hydrodynamics, and fluid dynamics), economics (game theory), computer science (linear programming), and statistics. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians in modern history.[2] The mathematician Jean Dieudonn called von Neumann "the last of the great mathematicians",[3] while Peter Lax described him as possessing the most "fearsome technical prowess" and "scintillating intellect" of the century,[4] andHans Bethe stated "I have sometimes wondered whether a brain like von Neumann's does not indicate a species superior to that of man".[5] Even inBudapest, in the time that produced geniuses like Theodore von Krmn (b. 1881), George de Hevesy (b. 1885), Le Szilrd (b. 1898), Eugene Wigner (b. 1902), Edward Teller (b. 1908), and Paul Erds (b. 1913), his brilliance stood out.[6] Von Neumann was a pioneer of the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics, in the development of functional analysis, a principal member of the Manhattan Project and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (as one of the few originally appointed), and a key figure in the development ofgame theory[1][7] and the concepts of cellular automata,[1] the universal constructor, and the digital computer. Von Neumann's mathematical analysis of the structure of self-replication preceded the discovery of the structure of DNA.[8] In a short list of facts about his life he submitted to the National Academy of Sciences, he stated "The part of my work I consider most essential is that on quantum mechanics, which developed in Gttingen in 1926, and subsequently in Berlin in 19271929. Also, my work on various forms of operator theory, Berlin 1930 and Princeton 19351939; on the ergodic theorem, Princeton, 19311932." Along with Teller and Stanisaw Ulam, von Neumann worked out key steps in the nuclear physics involved inthermonuclear reactions and the hydrogen bomb. Von Neumann wrote 150 published papers in his life; 60 in pure mathematics, 20 in physics, and 60 in applied mathematics. His last work, an unfinished manuscript written while in the hospital and later published in book form as The Computer and the Brain, gives an indication of the direction of his interests at the time of his death.
[edit]Early
life and education
Von Neumann was born Neumann Jnos Lajos (Hungarian pronunciation: [nojmn jano ljo]; in Hungarian the family name comes first) in Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire, to wealthy Jewish parents.[9][10][11] He was the eldest of three brothers. His father, Neumann Miksa (Max Neumann) was a banker, who held a doctorate in law. He had moved to Budapest fromPcs at the end of 1880s. His father (Mihly b. 1839)[12] and grandfather (Mrton)[12] were both born in Ond (present day town of Szerencs?), Zempln county, northern Hungary. John's mother was Kann Margit (Margaret Kann).[13] In 1913, his father was elevated to the nobility for his service to theAustro-Hungarian empire by Emperor Franz Josef. The Neumann family thus acquiring the hereditary title margittai, Neumann Jnos became margittai Neumann Jnos (John Neumann of Margitta), which he later changed to the German Johann von Neumann. Jnos, nicknamed "Jancsi" (Johnny), was an extraordinary child prodigy in the areas of language, memorization, and mathematics. As a 6 year old, he could divide two 8digit numbers in his head.[14] By the age of 8, he was familiar with differential and integral calculas.
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss ( /as/; German: Gau listen (helpinfo), Latin:Carolus Fridericus Gauss) (30 April 1777 23 February 1855) was a Germanmathematician and physical scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics,electrostatics, astronomy and optics. Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum[1] (Latin, "the Prince of Mathematicians" or "the foremost of mathematicians") and "greatest mathematician since antiquity", Gauss had a remarkable influence in many fields of mathematics and science and is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians. [2] He referred to mathematics as "the queen of sciences".[3]
[edit]Early
years (17771798)
Carl Friedrich Gauss was born on 30 April 1777 in Braunschweig (Brunswick), in the Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbttel, now part of Lower Saxony, Germany, as the son of poor working-class parents.[4] Indeed, his mother was illiterate and never recorded the date of his birth, remembering only that he had been born on a Wednesday, eight days before the Feast of the Ascension, which itself occurs 40 days afterEaster. Gauss would later solve this puzzle about his birthdate in the context of finding the date of Easter, deriving methods to compute the date in both past and future years.[5] He was christened and confirmed in a church near the school he attended as a child.[6] Gauss was a child prodigy. There are many anecdotes about his precocity while a toddler, and he made his first groundbreaking mathematical discoveries while still a teenager. He completed Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, his magnum opus, in 1798 at the age of 21, though it was not published until 1801. This work was fundamental in consolidating number theory as a discipline and has shaped the field to the present day. Gauss's intellectual abilities attracted the attention of the Duke of Braunschweig,[2] who sent him to the Collegium Carolinum (now Technische Universitt Braunschweig), which he attended from 1792 to 1795, and to the University of Gttingen from 1795 to 1798. While at university, Gauss independently rediscovered several important theorems;[citation needed]his breakthrough occurred in 1796 when he showed that any regular polygon with a number of sides which is a Fermat prime (and, consequently, those polygons with any number of sides which is the product of distinct Fermat primes and a power of 2) can be constructed by compass and straightedge. This was a major discovery in an important field of mathematics; construction problems had occupied mathematicians since the days of theAncient Greeks, and the discovery ultimately led Gauss to choose mathematics instead ofphilology as a career. Gauss was so pleased by this result that he requested that a regularheptadecagon be inscribed on his tombstone. The stonemason declined, stating that the difficult construction would essentially look like a circle.[7] The year 1796 was most productive for both Gauss and number theory. He discovered a construction of the heptadecagon on 30 March.[8] He further advanced modular arithmetic, greatly simplifying manipulations in number theory.[citation needed] On 8 April he became the first to prove the quadratic reciprocity law. This remarkably general law allows mathematicians to determine the solvability of any quadratic equation in modular arithmetic. The prime number theorem, conjectured on 31 May, gives a good understanding of how the prime numbers are distributed among the integers. Gauss also discovered that every positive integer is representable as a sum of at most three triangular numbers on 10 July and then jotted down in his diary the famous note: "! num = + + ". On October 1 he published a result on the number of solutions of polynomials with coefficients in finite fields, which 150 years later led to the Weil conjectures.
