Albert Einstein

Born: March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Kingdom of Wrttemberg, German Empire

Died: April 18, 1955 (at age 76) in Princeton, New Jersey
Nationality: German
Famous For: Father of the Atomic Age. Many contributions to science that
transformed the modern world
Awards: Nobel Prize in Physics (1921), Time Magazines Person of the
Century (1999)

Einstein and Nuclear Power

The theory of nuclear energy is based upon the idea that atomic nuclei are created of
neutrons and protons. Usually, the mass of the nucleus is smaller than the mass of all the
protons and neutrons together. This disparity is known as mass defect. According to
Einsteins Theory of Relativity, which he completed in 1915, there is a similarity between
energy and mass. This means that both neutrons and protons have a lot of energy when
split up. This energy is the same as the mass defect.
According to Einstein, the mass defect is transformed into kinetic energy as atoms are
split. According to his theory, energy must be added to the nucleus in order to split it. You
can therefore calculate a stability of nucleus by mass defect. The stable nucleus is one that
you cannot easily split. The energy comes from binding the energy that holds the
subatomic particles together. It is similar to the energy that is stored in chemical bonds.

Einsteins Contribution to Mathematics

While Einstein was remembered for his contributions to physics, he also made
contributions in mathematics. He contributed several equations to calculus and geometry,
ten of which are called the Einstein Field Equations. He first published these equations in

1915. One of these equations demonstrates how stress-energy inflicts curvature of spacetime.

Isaac Newton
Born: Dec 25, 1642, in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, England
Died: March 20, 1727 (at age 84), in Kensington, Middlesex, England, Great
Britain
Nationality: English
Famous For: Newtons method for estimating roots of a function

Newtons Contributions to Mathematics

Newton went on to publish a very influential work titled The Principia and it centered on
infinitesimal calculus in geometric form. His work on cubicle curves in relation to the
Euclidean plane was quite revolutionary for its time. As with his other studies, the work set
the stage for amazing inroads in math and science when others built upon the groundwork he
created.
Newton made many discoveries in areas related to optics, the theory of finite differences, and
innovative applications in geometry. Based on his very unique work, he received a great deal
of acclaim. This led to him being named Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669.
Traditionally, a person who was awarded such a position had to become a priest. Newton was
given an exemption from that rule.

Leonardo Pisano Bigollo

Born: c. 1170 in Italy
Died: c. 1250 (at about age 80)
Nationality: Italian
Famous For: Fibonnaci Numbers

Bigollos Mathematical Works

During the last few years of the 12th century, Fibonacci undertook a series of travels around
the Mediterranean. At this time, the worlds most prominent mathematicians were Arabs, and
he spent much time studying with them. In about 1200, he returned home to Italy, and two
years later he published his book, Liber Abaci.
This work, whose title translates as the Book of Calculation, was extremely influential in that
it popularized the use of the Arabic numerals in Europe, thereby revolutionizing arithmetic
and allowing scientific experiment and discovery to progress more quickly.
In Liber Abaci, Fibonacci used as an example a problem regarding the growth of a rabbit
population. The sequence of numbers which he used to solve the problem was that which later
became known as the Fibonacci sequence. However, it had been known in India several
centuries earlier; this was merely the first time that it had been seen in Western mathematics.
The fact that the ratio of successive numbers in the sequence tends to the Golden Ratio of
around 1.618:1 may or may not have been known to Fibonacci; in any event, he did not
mention it in his book.

Bigollos Other Works

Fibonacci published several other mathematical works, although not all have survived. These
include a compendium of surveying, works focusing on geometrical problems, and a
commentary on the Elements of Euclid.
He also wrote extensively on commercial arithmetic, although these writings have been lost.
The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, was interested in science and mathematics, and
Fibonacci stayed with him for a while. By 1240, the mathematicians standing was such that
he was granted a salary by the Pisan Republic.
Fibonacci died in his home city at some point no later than 1250, although the precise date
and circumstances of his death are unknown.

Thales
Born: c. 624 BC in Miletus, Turkey
Died: c. 547 BC (at about age 77), Location unknown
Nationality: Greek
Famous For: Formulated the five theorems of geometry

Thales Theories and Theorems

There were several other innovative theorems that Thales would be credited with discovering.
While they are not thought about as anything staggering by todays advanced mathematics,
Thales early research would make many simple deductions that would influence the
evolution of math immensely. Attributed to Thales would be the notion a circle can be
bisected by its diameter and that in an isosceles triangle, the base angles are equal.
His work was not always great though. He did have the dubious distinction of noting the earth
was disk shaped and not round and they it floating on an ocean. The ocean, incidentally, was
infinite. This notion was, obviously, disproved at a later point in human history. The time it
took to disprove it was well over a thousand years after Thales noted his theory.

Thales as a Philosopher
While known mostly as a mathematician, Thales was also a philosopher in his own right. He
championed scientific inquiry. He tried to avoid looking at mythology for answers to the
origins of the natural world. He looked into the reasons for humanitys existence and tried to
do so without seeking answers in Zeus or the other gods of antiquity.

Within his philosophical musings, he was the first to truly flesh out the notion of examining
things from the perspective of general principles and more rational, tight-knit hypotheses.
Such innovative concepts had a profound impact on the sciences. As a result of his work,
some have called him the Father of Science, although this title might be a bit of an
overstatement.

Pythagoras
Born: c. 570 BC in on the island of Samos
Died: c. 495 BC (at about age 75) in Metapontum
Nationality: Greek
Famous For: Pythagorean Theorem

The Pythagorean Theorem

Pythagoras believed the earth was round and that the sun, moon, and other planets had their
own movements. His beliefs eventually led to the Copernican theory of the universe.
The principles of the Pythagorean Theorem had already been known before they were
formulated by Pythagoras. The Egyptians used a form of the Pythagorean Theorem to lay out
their fields and the Greeks borrowed it from the Egyptians.

The theorem says that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the
squares of the other two sides. A right triangle is a triangle where one angle equals 90 degrees
and the hypotenuse is the side opposite the right angle. If you know the values of two sides of
a right triangle, you can easily calculate the missing side.
The Pythagorean Theorem has many proofs. One of the most famous was that of Euclid, the
Greek mathematician who was born around 300 B.C. Pythagoras also developed a method of
tuning instruments called the Pythagorean tuning. If Pythagoras committed any of his
theorems or thoughts to paper, no one has yet found them, though there were forgeries.
Pythagoras seemed to have favored oral teaching.

Ren Descartes
Born: March 31, 1596, in La Haye en Touraine, Kingdom of France
Died: Feb 11, 1650 (at age 53), in Stockholm, Swedish Empire
Nationality: French
Famous For: Developing the Cartesian coordinate system

Descartes Philosophy and Legacy

Descartes is regarded as the first philosopher to use reason to explore the natural sciences.
Since he thought that all truths were linked, Descartes searched for the explanation of the
natural world by using a rational approach, by means of mathematics and science. This was
similar to what Sir Francis Bacon had believed.
His methodology of incorporating logic and mathematics with philosophy to elucidate the
physical world became metaphysical when it dealt with theology questions. This brought
about his contemplation of the nature existence, as well as the mind-body duality, pinpointing
the souls contact with the body at the pineal gland. This idea also contributed to the concept
of dualism which was matter meeting non-matter.

Contribution to Mathematics
Descartes developed Cartesian (analytical) geometry, which is the use of algebra to examine
geometric properties. He created an empirical comprehension of rainbows, along with
proposing a naturalistic account for the solar systems formation. This led Pope Alexander VII
to add his works to the List of Prohibited Books.

Archimedes
Born: c. 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily
Died: c. 212 BC (at about age 75) in Syracuse, Sicily
Nationality: Greek
Famous For: Accurate calculation for pi

Archimedes Contribution to Mathematics

On his own, Archimedes continued to study geometry and science and the principles of
mechanics and made such major contributions to these disciplines as an understanding of
specific gravity, hydrostatics, and buoyancy along with ingenious everyday applications of the
use of the lever and the pulley.
He created formulations for such mathematical accomplishments as a formula to measure the
area of a circle. This was done using a system he created called using infinitesimals. This is
quite similar to modern day integral calculus.
Archimedes also created a formula that enabled him to determine the volume of a solid or the
volume of an item of irregular shape. Additionally, he was able to discover the precise value
of pi and create a formula for determining the volume of a sphere. His formulas are still in use
today.

Inventions of Archimedes
The Claw of Archimedes (also known as the Snatcher, the Ship Shaker or the Iron Hand) was
a weapon designed to intercept enemy ships entering the Syracuse harbor, stop them, lift them
and topple them into the water. It was an ingenious combination of levers, pulleys, grappling

hooks and cable that could be easily operated by one man. In 1999, a successful replica was
contrived by scientists for the BBC television program Secrets of the Ancients. The
experiment was repeated in 2005 by the Discovery Channel.
The Archimedes Screw (also known as the Water Snail) was a device equipped with inner
coils like a screw or the interior of a snail shell. Through the use of a crank, the device could
pull water up out of the hull of a ship or from a body of water. This device is very useful for
moving water into fields for irrigation. The people of the time were excited when they first
beheld the Water Snail because it seemed to defy gravity by pulling water uphill. The
Archimedes Screw can also be used to move lightweight materials such as sand, grain, ashes
and so on.

John Forbes Nash, Jr.

Born: June 13, 1928 (age 85), in Bluefield, West Virginia
Nationality: American
Famous For: Developing the Nash equilibrium

Nashs Contribution to Mathematics

John Forbes Nash, Jr. is profoundly attached to his Nash equilibrium theory that is learned
and applied in making business decisions. From Pittsburgh, he joined Princeton University
where he worked on the equilibrium theory and received his Ph.D. with the dissertation of
non-cooperative games. This thesis contains detailed definitions and explanations of what
would be known by all as Nash equilibrium.
Forty-four years later, the same thesis earned him a Nobel Prize in Economics, which he
shared with Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi (game theorists). In addition, he published
several articles entitled Equilibrium Points in N-person Games (1950), Econometrica about

The Bargaining problem (April 1950), and Two-person Cooperative Games (1953). He
worked at RAND cooperation in Santa Monica in the summer of 1950 and also taught
calculus at Princeton from 1950-1951. At the same time, he proved the Nash embedding
theorem and became science assistant at MIT Massachusetts.

Nashs Current Life

While at MIT, Nash met his future wife Alicia Lopez-Harrison a math student from El
Salvador whom he married in 1957. They had a son soon after and named him John Charles
Martin (born 1959).
However, John started experiencing signs of mental illness in 1958 and in April of 1959, he
was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He routinely spent time in and out of hospitals
and yet was able to hold a research role at Brandeis University. In between the year 1945 and
1996, Nash has published a series of 23 scientific papers.
In 1978, he was bestowed with the John Von Neumann Theory Prize for discovery of noncooperative equilibriums. Later, in December 2001, a film dubbed A Beautiful Mind that
portrayed Nashs life was released, but it was criticized to be inaccurate and PBS released a
documentary known as A Brilliant Madness that portrayed his life more precisely.

Blaise Pascal
Born: June 19, 1623, in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne, France
Died: Aug 19, 1662 (at age 39) in Paris, France
Nationality: French
Famous For: Pascals Calculators

Investing in Atmospheric Pressure

During the time of his religious experience, Pascal invested a tremendous amount of effort
studying about atmospheric pressure. He undertook a series of unique experiments and which
revealed a great deal of information that had not been known prior to Pascal performing his
experiments.
In 1653, Pascal published the groundbreaking work The Treatise on the Equilibrium of
Liquids. The Generation of Conic Sections was another project he was working on publishing,
but it was never finished during his lifetime.

Other Contributions to Mathematics

Pascals most famous work from the time period would be The Treatise on the Arithmetical
Triangle, which was an innovative study into the triangle that would set the stage for a great
deal of geometric revelations in the future.

Alan Turing
Born: June 23, 1912 in Maida Vale, London, England, United Kingdom
Died: June 7, 1954 (at age 41) in Wilmslow, Cheshire, England, United
Kingdom
Nationality: British
Famous For: Father of Computer Science
Awards: Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society

Turings Contribution to Mathematics

In 1936, Turing published a seminal paper entitled On Computable Numbers, with an
Application to the Decision Problem, which proposed an effective method for establishing the
provability of mathematical statements. Both Turing and Church independently showed that
even logical systems (weaker than arithmetic systems) are undecidable.
One of their arguments consisted in the fact that lambda-definable functions are the same as
all effectively calculable (computable) functions. To prove this fact, he invented the Turing
machine for optimum computability. In 1948, Alan Turing was appointed Reader at the
University of Manchester (Mathematics Department) while continuing his abstract work in
mathematics. His main contribution at Manchester University was his design for the
programming system of Ferranti Mark I, the first commercially available electronic digital
computer.

In 1951, he was elected for life Fellow of the Royal Society for his substantial contribution to
the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematical biology (mathematical
modeling and representation of biological processes, using various applied mathematical
techniques).
Turing was also the recipient of the Order of the British Empire for his significant codebreaking work (with the aid of his code-breaking machine known as the Bombe) during
World War II, having helped in decoding more than 84,000 intercepted messages per month.