Leonhard Euler Tribute Page

One of the greatest mathematicians of the 18th century, and by many regarded as the greatest thinker of all time. Euler contributed greatly to mathematics as we know it today by further developing techniques in calculus, number theory and differential equations, among other things. For a delightful introduction to Euler and his work, watch A Tribute to Euler a lecture by Euler-expert William Dunham.

Leonhard Euler seated at a table, reading a mathematics book — Leonhard Euler reading a mathematics book, portrait from 1851.

Euler's Identity e to the power i times pi, plus one, equals zero — Euler's formula, often considered the most remarkable formula in maths.

92 volumes published

The most productive mathematician of all time, Euler's collected works today fill a total of 92 volumes. He was active in almost every area of mathematics at the time, resulting in an impressive list of things named after him.

Euler was almost completely blind at the age of 59. He is quoted to have said "Now I will have fewer distractions".

Map of Königsberg with the reiver Pregel and its seven bridges highlighted

Can you follow a path crossing each bridge only once, and return? No, said Euler and thus, graph theory was born.

Euler was born 1707 in Basel, Switzerland. At the age of 13 he began studying philosophy and recieved private lessons by mathematician Johann Bernoulli. Only three years later he recieved a Master in Philosophy.

Euler contributed to major discoveries in fields such as geometry, number theory, calculus, algebra and even physics. Notably, he created and popularized mathematical notation such as \( f(x), i, e, \sin, \cos \) and \( \tan \). He also developed techniques for working with power series, solving the Basel problem among other things: \[ \sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{1}{n^2} = \frac{1}{1^2} + \frac{1}{2^2} + \ldots = \frac{\pi^2}{6}. \]

Leonhard Euler

A Tribute Page