famous mathematicians essay

15 Famous Mathematicians and Their Contributions

Table of Contents

Introduction

Being a mathematician is hard. Only a few people have mastered this subject and achieved fame. Of those, there have been some famous Indian mathematicians . In this article, we will discuss some of the famous mathematicians and their contributions to Mathematics.

Riddles about famous Mathematicians 

Here is a PDF that consists of riddles about famous mathematicians. Click on the download button to solve them.

Euclid was one among the famous mathematicians, and he was known as the ‘Father of Geometry.’ His famous Geometry contribution is referred to as the Euclidean geometry, which is there in the Geometry chapter of class IX. He spent all his life working for mathematics and set a revolutionary contribution to Geometry. 

2. Pythagoras

‘Pythagoras theorem’ is very popular and an important mathematical formula to solve mathematical problems. Since childhood, all of us have struggled to solve mathematical problems applying the Pythagoras theorem. Pythagoras discovered this prominent theorem and he became the father of ‘Pythagoras theorem.’ Pythagoras was from Greece, but he fled off to India in the latter part of his life.

3. Archimedes

Archimedes was a Greek Scientist, a great mathematician, and a Physician. He also worked his entire life in search of discovering mathematical formulas that are related to Physics. The best contribution of Archimedes in mathematics is known as the invention of compound pulleys, antiquity, and screw pump. Students of class X have to study these chapters of compound pulleys and antiquity.

4. Thales of Miletus

Thales of Miletus was one of the most famous mathematicians from Greece. He was very skilled in Geometry and used Geometry as a means to calculate the heights of pyramids and measure the distance of a ship from the shore. As he was also a philosopher, in the ‘Thales’ theorem’ he tries to apply Geometry by using deductive reasoning and derives the conclusion of four corollaries. You can learn more about Thales of Miletus here .

5. Aristotle

Aristotle was a great scholar and he had vast knowledge in various areas, including Physics, mathematics, geology, metaphysics, medicine, biology, and psychology. He was a student of Plato, and both of them together discovered many philosophical theories and contributed to mathematics and Platonism. He combines mathematics and philosophy and in his treaties, and uses mathematical science in three principal ways.

6. Diophantus

His algebraic equations are quite easy and unique, so he was popularly known as the ‘Father of Algebra.’ He wrote a series of books on Algebra. He later gained popularity for his book Arithmetica, where a brief description with examples was given on the best solution for all the algebraic equations and the theory related to the number. 

7. Eratosthenes 

Eratosthenes was a world-famous mathematician known for his unbelievable and exact calculation. He was the only mathematician who put efforts to calculate the earth’s circumference and calculated the Earth’s axis tilt. Both his calculations are exact, and so he became famous worldwide.

8. Hipparchus

Like Geometry, trigonometry chapters are also important for class IX and X students. The founder of trigonometry was an intelligent mathematician and mythologist Hipparchus. He discovered the first trigonometric table in mathematics. He was the first person to develop a well-grounded process by which people can predict solar eclipses.

9. Hero of Alexandria

Heron’s formula in mathematics is applied by students from class VI onwards. Yes, he was the one who discovered the square root of numbers. In today’s mathematics, his formula is known as Heron’s formula. So, he gained popularity and became known as the ‘Hero of Alexandria.’

10. Ptolemy

Ptolemy was a mathematician; he was also a geographer, musician, writer, and astronomer. His contributions to mathematics were incredible. He wrote about mathematics, and among them, his best treaty was called Almagest. He also believed that in the Universe, the position of the Earth was in the center.

11. Xenocrates

Xenocrates was a famous mathematician from Greek. He had written a series of books on mathematics. He emphasizes the theory of numbers in mathematics, and all his written books were based on the theory of numbers, and geometry. He could easily calculate the syllables from an alphabet. 

12. Anaxagoras

He was a great mathematician and an astronomer. Because of his outstanding knowledge of mathematics and cosmology, he discovered the exact clarification of eclipses and stated that the Sun is larger than Peloponnese. 

13. Hypatia

She was a famous mathematician and a philosopher. She was the first woman to give importance to mathematics. She was a genius, and for many young women, she became an inspiration and encouraged them to pursue their dreams. In Alexandria's history, she was the last famous mathematician.

14. Antiphon

Antiphon discovered the value of Pi. This renowned mathematician was the first one who calculated the upper bound and lowers bound values of Pi by inscribing and circumscribing around a circle, the polygon, and processed finally to calculate the areas of the polygon. His idea of calculating a polygon area became very famous, and it changed mathematics for the world. 

15. Diocles

Diocles was a profound geometer and mathematician. He was renowned for his discovery in the subdivision of geometry. In the books of Mathematics, the ‘Geometry curve’ is known by his name as the ‘Cissoid of Diocles.’ To find out a solution to doubling the cube, the method of Cissoid of Diocles was used.

We have discussed above the list of famous mathematicians and their contributions to mathematics. However, they all are from Greek. There are famous Indian mathematicians also like Srinivasa Ramanujan, Aryabhata, Shakuntala Devi, and many more.

If you wish to know more about famous Indian mathematicians and their mathematics contributions, then comment in this section. For any question related to this article about ‘famous mathematicians and their contributions, ’ feel free to ask.

About Cuemath

Cuemath, a student-friendly mathematics and coding platform, conducts regular  Online Classes  for academics and skill-development, and their Mental Math App, on both  iOS  and  Android , is a one-stop solution for kids to develop multiple skills. Understand the Cuemath Fee structure and sign up for a free trial.

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

FREE Poetry Worksheet Bundle! Perfect for National Poetry Month.

26 Famous Mathematicians Everyone Should Know

The innovators who brought you number theory, geometry, and more.

As students learn math, it’s important for them to know that mathematics is more than just numbers and shapes. It’s also about famous mathematicians—the people, personalities, and discoveries that shaped what we know about math today. These 26 famous mathematicians show us how math discoveries have shaped history, come from all around the world, and are still happening today.

Thales of Miletus

Modern turkey, 626–548 b.c.e..

Thales of Miletus used geometry to calculate the heights of pyramids and measure the distance from ships to the shore. He also discovered five geometric theorems and ideas:

• A diameter bisects a circle.
• Angles opposite two equal sides of a triangle are equal.
• Opposite angles of two intersecting angles are equal.
• An angle inside a semicircle is a right-angle triangle.
• When we have the length of a triangle’s base and two angles at the base, we can determine the triangle.

His work sounds easy to us, but it was groundbreaking at the time and set the stage for other famous mathematicians and Western philosophers, like Socrates.

Learn more about Thales of Miletus at Britannica.

Greece, 570–500 B.C.E.

Pythagoras (remember his geometry theorem?) was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and more. His ideas had a big impact on Western philosophy and the development of mathematics. He didn’t leave any writings, so it’s hard to figure out exactly what originated with Pythagoras and what came from his followers, including other mathematicians. But it’s generally agreed that he created the theory of functional numbers and the Pythagorean theorem for right triangles.

Learn more about Pythagoras at Britannica.

Egypt, c. 325–265 B.C.E.

If you’ve studied geometry, you’ve heard of Euclid. He was known as the Father of Geometry . Euclid’s most famous work is The Elements , his writing about mathematics. It was the center of math instruction for 2,000 years. In The Elements , Euclid lays out five postulates that are the foundation of geometry. Postulates one, two, and three are about lines, points, and circles. Postulate four states that all right angles are equal. Postulate five is about the nature of parallel lines. A lot of what Euclid did seems obvious to us now, but that’s because Euclid laid it all out so other scholars could build on it.

Learn more about Euclid at Story of Mathematics.

Greece, 384–322 B.C.E.

Aristotle is known for being a philosopher, but he was also one of the most famous mathematicians (and also studied geology and medicine, among other things). He helped define math entities like point, line, plane, solid, circle, number, and even and odd, and defined concepts like prime numbers.

Learn more about Aristotle at Britannica Kids.

Sicily, 287–212 B.C.E

Archimedes spent his life trying to find math formulas that were related to physics. He’s known as the inventor of pulleys and pumps, but his main interest was math. He worked in geometry, making discoveries about spheres, cylinders, circles, and parabolas. Perhaps he is most famous for calculating the value of pi using the “ method of exhaustion .” To do this, Archimedes drew a regular polygon outside a circle and a smaller polygon inside the circle. He doubled the number of sides in each polygon and calculated the length of each side. As the number of sides increased, it became a more accurate approximation of a circle. When the polygon had 96 sides, he could determine pi.

Learn more about Archimedes at World History Encyclopedia.

Eratosthenes

Egypt, c. 276–195 b.c.e..

Eratosthenes was known for his exact calculation. He calculated Earth’s circumference and axis tilt. Both were accurate and became well known during his lifetime. To calculate this, he used the noon shadow at midsummer at one point where the sun was so far away that the rays were parallel, then used the distance between two points on land to calculate the circumference. He also worked on prime numbers. His Sieve of Eratosthenes , or a way to find the primes smaller than n when n is less than 10,000,000, is still an important tool in number theory.

Learn more about Eratosthenes at World History Encyclopedia.

Greece, 190–120 B.C.E.

Hipparchus is known first for his astronomy, including creating models for how the sun and moon survive. In math, he developed trigonometry, built trigonometric tables, and solved problems of spherical trigonometry. Using trigonometry and his theories about the sun and moon, he developed a reliable way to predict solar eclipses.

Learn more about Hipparchus at Britannica Kids.

Heron of Alexandria

Egypt, c. 10 b.c.e. to 75 c.e..

Very little is known about Heron of Alexandria’s life, but he left behind 13 books of his writings. In math, Heron was most famous for Heron’s formula , the formula for finding the area of a triangle using the length of its sides. But Heron’s work did not stop there. He also worked on the areas of quadrilaterals, polygons, and surface and volume of cones, cylinders, prisms, and more shapes. If you’re working with a geometric formula, Heron likely studied it. Heron also gave a formula for finding the cube root of a number.

Learn more about Heron of Alexandria at Britannica.

Egypt, 100–170 C.E.

Ptolemy is known for applying math to astronomy, like applying theorems of spherical trigonometry to astrological problems. His book The Almagest , is about math and astronomy, even though at the time, people thought the Earth was the center of the universe. He was also known for his contributions to trigonometry. His table of the lengths of chords in a circle is the first table of a trigonometric function that we have.

Read more about Ptolemy at the World History Encyclopedia.

Egypt, c. 355–415 C.E.

Hypatia is the first female mathematician that we have record of. In fact, during her time, she was the world’s leading mathematician and astronomer. Hypatia’s father was also a famous mathematician and astronomer, and she continued his work, with a focus on preserving Greek math and astronomical knowledge during a difficult time in history. She wrote comments on books about geometry and number theory.

Learn more about Hypatia at Smithsonian Magazine.

Blaise Pascal

France, 1623–1662.

Pascal was a child prodigy whose father was a mathematician, so he accomplished a lot in his 39 years. In math, he worked on the arithmetic triangle—his book Treatise on the Arithmetic Triangle set the foundation for future geometry. He invented a machine that did calculations and helped advance calculus. He is also regarded as the founder of probability.

Learn more about Blaise Pascal at Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Leonhard Euler

Switzerland and russia, 1707–1783 .

Euler was a mathematician and physicist and a founder of “pure mathematics.” He is known for finding useful ways to use math in technology and public affairs, as well as contributing to geometry, calculus, and number theory. Euler invented functional notation, f(x), and developed the trigonometric functions to show sine, cosine, and tangent. He also invented Euler’s formula, the way to show the relationship between sine, cosine, and tangent. Interestingly, Euler lost his sight, first in his right eye and then in both his eyes.

Learn more about Leonhard Euler at New World Encyclopedia.

Joseph Fourier

France, 1768–1830.

Fourier taught and studied mathematical physics, and showed how heat moving through solids can be analyzed in terms of a mathematical series of infinite sines and cosines (called the Fourier Series ). His work helped scientists study boundary-value problems like sunspots, tides, and weather. He also influenced the theory of functions as a real variable, which is still studied today. Fourier lived during the French Revolution and got swept up in the revolution and its politics.

Learn more about Joseph Fourier at Britannica.

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Germany, 1777–1855.

Gauss made contributions to number theory, geometry, probability theory, the theory of functions, and more. Because of the number of contributions he made to math, he has been called the Prince of Mathematics . Some of his contributions to number theory include the prime number theorem , the arithmetic/geometric mean, and the binomial theorem , among others. Gauss is quoted as saying , “Mathematics is the queen of the sciences, and number theory is the queen of mathematics.”

Learn more about Carl Friedrich Gauss at Britannica.

Charles Babbage

England, 1791–1871.

In 1812–13 , Babbage got the idea to calculate math problems using a machine, and he created a small calculator that could calculate up to eight decimal points. Then, in 1823, Charles Babbage designed a machine that could perform computations based on instructions and could store information in memory, like today’s computers. He called it the “ difference engine ” and programmed it to calculate logarithms and trigonometric functions. At the time, Babbage designed it to be the size of a room. The actual engine wasn’t built until almost 200 years later and it worked perfectly. He also designed an “analytic engine” that was even more like a computer with printing abilities.

Learn more about Charles Babbage at Britannica Kids.

George Boole

England, 1815–1864.

Boole is known for his work in algebra. He designed Boolean algebra (or Boolean logic), which involves logic problems and math functions using the operators and , or , and not . He also described a system where two objects were either on or off (like today’s binary system that uses either 0 or 1). His work was the foundation and start of what became computer science.

Learn more about George Boole at Totally History.

Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann

Germany, 1826–1866.

In school, Riemann was a good, but not exemplary, student . He had an interest in math and studied it on his own. Riemann used intuitive reasoning, which meant that he did not use a lot of calculations, but that also meant that his work was easier to read. He was studying at the University of Berlin when he worked out his general theory of complex variables, which is the foundation of his other work. Riemann studied under Gauss and other famous mathematicians. Riemann worked on geometry that went beyond two and three dimensions, and worked in the zeta function and in multi-dimensional complex numbers. His Riemann hypothesis is a mathematical mystery that is still unsolved even though many other famous mathematicians have worked on it.

Learn more about Bernhard Riemann at Britannica Kids.

David Hilbert

Germany, 1862–1943.

David Hilbert was at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1900 when he gave a lecture about the 23 unsolved mathematical problems of the time. The “Hilbert problems” were the focus for mathematicians during the 20th century. (Now, of the original 23 problems , 10 have been solved, 7 are partially solved, and 6, including the Riemann hypothesis and the Kronecker-Weber theorem, have not yet been solved). Hilbert also developed his own theorems and concepts, including functional analysis. He was also optimistic about mathematics and famously declared in a 1930 radio appearance, “We must know! We will know!”

Learn more about David Hilbert at Britannica.

G.H. Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan

England, 1877–1947; india, 1887–1920.

G.H. Hardy and his Indian protégé Srinivasa Ramanujan were famous mathematicians who focused on solving math problems that previous mathematicians had set out, like the Riemann hypothesis. They didn’t solve the Riemann hypothesis—they said they did but only proved that there are infinitely many zeros on the critical line. Ramanujan, who had no formal training, did manage to prove many of Riemann’s results, and said that his ideas came to him in dreams. The pair worked together at Cambridge University and had a big impact on British mathematics, though they never did fully solve the Riemann hypothesis.

Learn more about Hardy and Ramanujan at YouTube.

Emmy Noether

Germany, 1882–1935.

Noether was called the most creative abstract algebraist of her time. She didn’t start out studying math, instead studying what most young women at the time studied—French, English, and how to cook, clean, and play the clavier. At 18, she wanted to take math classes at the University of Erlangen, but the university refused to admit her because she was a woman. They did, however, let her sit in on a class.

She sat in on classes, without getting credit, for two years and then passed the test that allowed her to get her doctorate degree in math. After five years, Noether earned the second degree in math to be granted to a woman. But because the University of Erlangen would not hire her as a professor, she worked with her father and published papers about her work. In her life, she made many contributions to math, including studying rings, groupings, and fields in algebra. She was a teacher and published more than 40 papers about math.

Learn more about Emmy Noether at Britannica.

John von Neumann

Hungary, 1903–1957.

John von Neumann was a child prodigy who worked on quantum theory and the Manhattan Project. He created a design model for a digital computer that used separate storage for processing information and holding data, a structure that computers still follow. He also developed game theory , or a way to use math to analyze how people make decisions that involves other people or “players.”

Learn more about John von Neumann at Britannica Kids.

Katherine Johnson

United states, 1918–2020.

Johnson was the first African American female NASA scientist. She completed the calculations that sent Alan Shepard and John Glenn into space and was an important part of the Apollo space program. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and was one of the three women depicted in the book and movie Hidden Figures .

Learn more about Katherine Johnson at NASA.

Mary Jackson

United states, 1921–2005.

Jackson was another mathematician and aerospace engineer, and was the first African American woman to be a NASA engineer. She started her career as a math teacher and then joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to work on American space programs. She worked with Dorothy Vaughan, another influential mathematician, to provide data that was used in early space missions. Because of segregation, Jackson often had to get special permission to take classes and further her education as she worked to become an engineer. Jackson was also depicted in the book and movie Hidden Figures along with Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan.

Learn more about Mary Jackson at Britannica Kids.

Alfred van der Poorten

Australia, 1942–2010.

Alfred van der Poorten was a university mathematician through and through. He focused on number theory, specifically Diophantine analysis (an equation where only integer solutions are permitted), transcendental numbers , fractions, and elliptical curves. Van der Poorten made discoveries like solving Posit’s conjecture on the rationality of the Hadamard quotient theorem and on the Einstein cosmological constant. He also analyzed and wrote about other mathematician’s work, including Leonhard Euler’s.

Learn more about Alfred van der Poorten at the Australian Mathematical Society.

Maryam Mirzakhani

Iran, 1977–2017.

Mirzakhani is one of the most famous mathematicians because she took an innovative approach to research in branches of math, including symplectic geometry and ergodic theory. In 2014, she became the first (and only) woman to earn the Fields Medal. Mirzakhani was interested in math from a young age and won gold medals in 1994 and 1995 in the high school International Mathematical Olympiads. She died at the age of 40 from breast cancer.

Learn more about Maryam Mirzakhani at UNESCO.

Terence Tao

Australia, born 1975.

Tao is considered one of the best mathematicians alive today. He is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He won the Fields Medal in 2006 for his work on partial differential equations, among other math topics. Tao’s accomplishments are original and diverse, and he has worked on projects that extend the work of mathematicians who came before him, like Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Tao’s work shows that there is still a lot to be discovered in math.

Learn more about Terence Tao at Britannica.

Want to know more about famous mathematicians?

Watch this video about more famous 21st-century mathematicians:

If you liked this list of famous mathematicians, check out these Nobel Prize Winners Kids Should Know .

Plus, get all the latest articles, teaching tips, and ideas when you  subscribe to our free newsletters .

You Might Also Like

Who Invented Math? The History of Mathematics

Did math start with the Greeks, or has it always existed? Continue Reading

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan

500 words essay on srinivasa ramanujan.

Srinivasa Ramanujan is one of the world’s greatest mathematicians of all time. Furthermore, this man, from a poor Indian family, rose to prominence in the field of mathematics. This essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan will throw more light on the life of this great personality.

                                                                                             Essay On Srinivasa Ramanujan

Early Life of Srinivasa Ramanujan

Ramanujan was born in Erode on December 22, 1887, in his grandmother’s house.  Furthermore, he went to primary school in Kumbakonamwas when he was five years old.  Moreover, he would attend several different primary schools before his entry took place to the Town High School in Kumbakonam in January 1898.

At the Town High School, Ramanujan proved himself as a talented student and did well in all of his school subjects. In 1900, he became involved with mathematics and began summing geometric and arithmetic series on his own.

In the Town High School, Ramanujan began reading a mathematics book called ‘Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure Mathematics’. Furthermore, this book was by G. S. Carr.

With the help of this book, Ramanujan began to teach himself mathematics . Furthermore, the book contained theorems, formulas and short proofs. It also contained an index to papers on pure mathematics.

His Contribution to Mathematics

By 1904, Ramanujan’s focus was on deep research. Moreover, an investigation took place by him of the series (1/n). Moreover, calculation took place by him of Euler’s constant to 15 decimal places. This was entirely his own independent discovery.

Ramanujan gained a scholarship because of his outstanding performance in his studies. Consequently, he was a brilliant student at Kumbakonam’s Government College. Moreover, his fascination and passion for mathematics kept on growing.

In the spring of 1913, there was the presentation of Ramanujan’s work to British mathematicians by Narayana Iyer, Ramachandra Rao and E. W. Middlemast. Afterwards, M.J.M Hill did not made an offer to take Ramanujan on as a student, rather, he provided professional advice to him. With the help of friends, Ramanujan sent letters to leading mathematicians at Cambridge University and was ultimately selected.

Ramanujan spent a significant time period of five years at Cambridge. At Cambridge, collaboration took place of Ramanujan with Hardy and Littlewood. Most noteworthy, the publishing of his findings took place there.

Ramanujan received the honour of a Bachelor of Arts by Research degree in March 1916. This honour was due to his work on highly composite numbers, sections of the first part whose publishing had taken place the preceding year. Moreover, the paper’s size was more than fifty pages long.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan is a man whose contributions to the field of mathematics are unmatchable. Furthermore, experts in mathematics worldwide all recognize his tremendous worth. Most noteworthy, Srinivasa Ramanujan made his country proud at a time when India was still under British occupation.

FAQs For Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan

Question 1: What is Srinivasa Ramanujan famous for?

Answer 1: Srinivas Ramanujan is famous for his discoveries that have influenced several areas of mathematics. Furthermore, he is famous for his contributions to number theory and infinite series. Moreover, he came up with fascinating formulas that facilitate in the calculation of the digits of pi in unusual ways.

Question 2: What is the special quality of number 1729 discovered by Srinivasa Ramanujan?

Answer 2:  Srinivas Ramanujan discovered that the number 1729 had a special characteristic.  Furthermore, this quality is that the number 1729 is the only number whose expression can take place as the sum of the cubes of two different sets of numbers. Consequently, people call 1729 the magic number.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

The 10 best mathematicians

Pythagoras (circa 570-495bc).

Vegetarian mystical leader and number-obsessive, he owes his standing as the most famous name in maths due to a theorem about right-angled triangles, although it now appears it probably predated him. He lived in a community where numbers were venerated as much for their spiritual qualities as for their mathematical ones. His elevation of numbers as the essence of the world made him the towering primogenitor of Greek mathematics, essentially the beginning of mathematics as we know it now. And, famously, he didn't eat beans.

Hypatia (cAD360-415)

Women are under-represented in mathematics, yet the history of the subject is not exclusively male. Hypatia was a scholar at the library in Alexandria in the 4th century CE. Her most valuable scientific legacy was her edited version of Euclid's The Elements , the most important Greek mathematical text, and one of the standard versions for centuries after her particularly horrific death: she was murdered by a Christian mob who stripped her naked, peeled away her flesh with broken pottery and ripped apart her limbs.

Girolamo Cardano (1501 -1576)

Italian polymath for whom the term Renaissance man could have been invented. A doctor by profession, he was the author of 131 books. He was also a compulsive gambler. It was this last habit that led him to the first scientific analysis of probability. He realised he could win more on the dicing table if he expressed the likelihood of chance events using numbers. This was a revolutionary idea, and it led to probability theory, which in turn led to the birth of statistics, marketing, the insurance industry and the weather forecast.

Leonhard Euler (1707- 1783)

The most prolific mathematician of all time, publishing close to 900 books. When he went blind in his late 50s his productivity in many areas increased. His famous formula ei π + 1 = 0, where e is the mathematical constant sometimes known as Euler's number and i is the square root of minus one, is widely considered the most beautiful in mathematics. He later took an interest in Latin squares – grids where each row and column contains each member of a set of numbers or objects once. Without this work, we might not have had sudoku.

Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855)

Known as the prince of mathematicians, Gauss made significant contributions to most fields of 19th century mathematics. An obsessive perfectionist, he didn't publish much of his work, preferring to rework and improve theorems first. His revolutionary discovery of non-Euclidean space (that it is mathematically consistent that parallel lines may diverge) was found in his notes after his death. During his analysis of astronomical data, he realised that measurement error produced a bell curve – and that shape is now known as a Gaussian distribution.

Georg Cantor (1845-1918)

Of all the great mathematicians, Cantor most perfectly fulfils the (Hollywood) stereotype that a genius for maths and mental illness are somehow inextricable. Cantor's most brilliant insight was to develop a way to talk about mathematical infinity. His set theory lead to the counter-intuitive discovery that some infinities were larger than others. The result was mind-blowing. Unfortunately he suffered mental breakdowns and was frequently hospitalised. He also became fixated on proving that the works of Shakespeare were in fact written by Francis Bacon.

Paul Erdös (1913-1996)

Erdös lived a nomadic, possession-less life, moving from university to university, from colleague's spare room to conference hotel. He rarely published alone, preferring to collaborate – writing about 1,500 papers, with 511 collaborators, making him the second-most prolific mathematician after Euler. As a humorous tribute, an "Erdös number" is given to mathematicians according to their collaborative proximity to him: No 1 for those who have authored papers with him; No 2 for those who have authored with mathematicians with an Erdös No 1, and so on.

John Horton Conway (b1937)

The Liverpudlian is best known for the serious maths that has come from his analyses of games and puzzles. In 1970, he came up with the rules for the Game of Life, a game in which you see how patterns of cells evolve in a grid. Early computer scientists adored playing Life, earning Conway star status. He has made important contributions to many branches of pure maths, such as group theory, number theory and geometry and, with collaborators, has also come up with wonderful-sounding concepts like surreal numbers, the grand antiprism and monstrous moonshine.

Grigori Perelman (b1966)

Perelman was awarded $1m last month for proving one of the most famous open questions in maths, the Poincaré Conjecture. But the Russian recluse has refused to accept the cash. He had already turned down maths' most prestigious honour, the Fields Medal in 2006. "If the proof is correct then no other recognition is needed," he reportedly said. The Poincaré Conjecture was first stated in 1904 by Henri Poincaré and concerns the behaviour of shapes in three dimensions. Perelman is currently unemployed and lives a frugal life with his mother in St Petersburg.

Terry Tao (b1975)

An Australian of Chinese heritage who lives in the US, Tao also won (and accepted) the Fields Medal in 2006. Together with Ben Green, he proved an amazing result about prime numbers – that you can find sequences of primes of any length in which every number in the sequence is a fixed distance apart. For example, the sequence 3, 7, 11 has three primes spaced 4 apart. The sequence 11, 17, 23, 29 has four primes that are 6 apart. While sequences like this of any length exist, no one has found one of more than 25 primes, since the primes by then are more than 18 digits long.

Alex Bellos is the author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland

• The 10 best ...
• Mathematics
• People in science

More on this story

How to learn to love maths

Shining moment for maths

Women and the maths problem

The science of fun.

Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos – review

Most viewed.

• Essay On Ramanujan

Essay on Ramanujan

500+ words essay on ramanujan.

Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar, who is also known as Ramanujan, is one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. The genius mathematician made a significant contribution to several areas of mathematics though he had no formal training in pre-mathematics. His contributions to the theory of numbers, mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions are considered to be extraordinary. The Indian mathematician is also known for his ability to solve mathematical problems that were previously considered impossible to solve.

About Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan, who is often referred to as ‘The World’s Greatest Mathematician’, was born in Erode on 22nd December 1887. His parents were Kuppuswamy Srinivasa Iyengar and Komalatammal. As a young boy, Srinivasa Ramanujan did not like going to school, and his parents had to enlist a constable’s help to ensure he attended school. But by the age of 11, Ramanujan was a child prodigy who developed his own sophisticated theorems to master trigonometry.

By the age of 17, the young mathematical genius had received several awards and merit certificates. Upon graduating high school, S. Ramanujan was awarded a scholarship to study at Government Arts College, Kumbakonam. But since he was intent only on studying mathematics, he failed all other subjects. He later enrolled at Pachaiyappa’s College, Madras, where he failed all other subjects and passed only in mathematics. Ramanujan continued to pursue independent research in mathematics and was eventually included as a researcher at the University of Madras.

His work and intellect were recognized by British mathematicians too. He was elected to the London Mathematical Society in 1917, and in 1918, he was elected to the Royal Society of London. He was the second Indian to be elected to the Royal Society and one of the youngest fellows elected in the history of the society. In 1918, he became the first Indian to be elected to the Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Ramanujan was a deeply religious person who believed there was a link between mathematics and spirituality. He thought that zero represented absolute reality. He credited his mathematical genius and acumen to his family deity, Goddess Namagiri Thayar. He drew inspiration from her for his work and he claimed to have visions that gave him knowledge of complex mathematical content.

Ramanujan found theorems and formulae as the best manifestation of reality. He compiled around 4000 results, which included theorems, equations and identities in number theory, combinatorics and algebra. He focused on several areas, from hypergeometric and infinite series to highly composite numbers. However, the two central regions Ramanujan felt he had a relationship with are ‘number theory’ and ‘modular functions’. He wrote and published several papers of great mathematical significance with his mentor Professor Hardy during his stay at Cambridge University.

But the mathematical genius did not live a long life. Ramanujan fell sick in 1919, which compelled him to return to India from Cambridge. The genius mathematician died on 26th April 1920 after a brief illness at the young age of 32. His last letters to his mentor, English mathematician G. H. Hardy revealed that he continued working on mathematical ideas before his death. His work was so intricate that it opened up new directions for mathematical research.

Posthumous Awards and Recognition

Srinivasa Ramanujan’s mathematical genius, his work and his achievements were recognized posthumously. The Government of India 2011 declared his birthday National Mathematics Day to commemorate his valuable contribution. The former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, proclaimed that 2012 would be celebrated as the National Mathematics Year.

Tamil Nadu, which is Ramanujan’s home state, recognizes his birthday (22nd December) as “State IT Day.” The Government of India also introduced several stamps picturing Ramanujan in 1962, 2011, 2012 and 2016. Several universities and institutions have introduced prizes and awards in his name to students making outstanding contributions to the field of mathematics.

In conclusion, Ramanujan has been compared to notable names, including some masters of mathematics like Euler and Jacobi. He has inspired a whole generation of mathematicians, and his legacy lives on. Ramanujan died at the young age of 37, leaving us a rich legacy of mathematical discoveries.

Download and register with BYJU’S to find more CBSE Essays on different topics. You can also find study materials like textbooks and solutions to prepare for the exams.

• Share Share

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Counselling

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Meet top uk universities from the comfort of your home, here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

• School Education /

Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in 100 and 500 Words for School Students

• Updated on  
• Dec 21, 2023

Dr. S Ramanujan is recognized as one of the greatest Mathematicians in the world, owing to his contributions to this academic field. His most commendable works include “The Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society” and  “Ramanujan Summation” method. Also, his becoming a member of the “London Mathematical Society in Britain” is an achievement to be proud of. Acknowledging his dedication to the field of mathematics, in 2012, Dr. Manmohan Singh declared 22 December as “ National Mathematics Day ”. To learn more about this Math genius, let us explore the Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in 150 and 500 words. 

Also Read: 20 Most Famous Indian Mathematicians

Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in 150 words

Here is an Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in 150 words:

Also Read: Famous Mathematicians of All Times

Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in 500 words

Now, let us go through an Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in 500 words:

Also Read: Ramanujan Fellowship

Ans: National Mathematics Day is celebrated on 22 December each year as it is the birth date of Dr S Ramanujan.

Ans: “The Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society” was Ramanujan’s first published paper.

Ans: Dr Srinivasa Ramanujan lost his life to TB on 26 April 1920.

Related Reads:

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Ankita Singh

Ankita is a history enthusiast with a few years of experience in academic writing. Her love for literature and history helps her curate engaging and informative content for education blog. When not writing, she finds peace in analysing historical and political anectodes.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

Connect With Us

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today.

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

January 2024

September 2024

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

Have something on your mind?

Make your study abroad dream a reality in January 2022 with

India's Biggest Virtual University Fair

Essex Direct Admission Day

Why attend .

Don't Miss Out

21 Famous and Greatest Mathematicians | 2024 Edition

Who are the most famous and greatest mathematicians to have ever lived? Well, answering this question is not easy, considering that mathematics has been known to humanity since prehistoric times, long before the birth of Christ.

From the timeless brilliance of Euclid and Pythagoras to the revolutionary insights of Alan Turning and Maryam Mirzakhani, mathematicians across the world have left an indelible mark on the pages of history. They transformed our understanding of the world, solved age-old mysteries, and paved the way for numerous scientific and technological breakthroughs.

The role of mathematics in our lives is immense. Math has made it possible to transmit electricity over thousands of kilometers, aided in the exploration of the concept of DNA, given rise to computers, and is essential in our quest to deepen our understanding of the universe.

“Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe” — Galileo Galilei

Without math, scientists can’t develop better medicines, researchers can’t explore new technologies, architects can’t design innovative structures, economists can’t make accurate predictions, and our world would be missing the solutions to many important challenges. 

Similar to many other fields, the mathematics we know today didn’t just randomly come into existence. The development of new, groundbreaking theorems and equations is a process that spans decades. Now, let’s explore the individuals behind these advancements. 

Table of Contents

16. Srinivasa Ramanujan

Known For : Ramanujan–Petersson conjecture, Ramanujan’s master theorem

Srinivasa Ramanujan was perhaps the most remarkable mathematician in modern India. Although Ramanujan had no formal training, his advanced mathematical knowledge at a very young age left many completely awestruck.

By the age of 16, he had independently developed and studied Bernoulli numbers, as well as calculated the Euler–Mascheroni constant. Before his untimely death at the age of 32, Ramanujan had successfully formulated nearly 4,000 different mathematical identities.

He gained international fame after G. H Hardy, a prominent British mathematician, recognized his work and compared him with the likes of Euler and Jacobi .

15. Joseph-Louis Lagrange

Known For : Lagrangian mechanics, Celestial Mechanics, Number Theory

Joseph Lagrange was one of the most notable students of the great Leonhard Euler. Lagrange started his mathematical career with variational calculus (in 1754), which led to the formulation of the Euler–Lagrange equation.

Lagrange later reformulated classical mechanics, introducing Lagrangian Mechanics . His renowned work on analytical mechanics, titled “Mécanique analytique,” played a crucial role in advancing the field of mathematical physics

14. Andrew Wiles

Accolades: Wolf Prize (1995/6); Abel Prize (2016)

Sir Andrew John Wiles, a prominent British mathematician, gained widespread recognition for resolving Fermat’s Last Theorem , once regarded as the “most challenging mathematical problem.”

In 1975, under the guidance of John H. Coates, Andrew Wiles started working on the Iwasawa theory, which he continued with American mathematician Barry Mazur.

His most groundbreaking contribution occurred in the early 1990s when he successfully proved a significant portion of the modularity theorem, formerly known as the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture. The modularity theorem, in essence, is related to Fermat’s Last Theorem and was enough to prove it.

Andrew Wiles on what it feels like to do mathematics pic.twitter.com/7egzT7Gp7F — Fermat’s Library (@fermatslibrary) April 28, 2023

13. Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi

Known For : Jacobi’s elliptic functions; Jacobi transform

Carl Gustav Jacobi was one of the prominent mathematicians of the 19th century. His formulation of the theory of  elliptic functions is perhaps his greatest contribution to the field.  

Jacobi played a key role in advancing the study of differential equations and rational mechanics, notably contributing to the development of Hamilton-Jacobi theory.

Beyond this, his influence extended to the realms of mechanical dynamics and number theory, where he made fundamental contributions that enriched our understanding of these intricate mathematical domains.

12. Alan Turing

Known For : Cryptanalysis of the Enigma, Turing’s proof Accolades: Smith’s Prize (1936)

During the Second World War , the German intelligence network was considered almost impenetrable. Many allied nations feared that if they could not intercept important transmissions by the Nazi high command, they might eventually lose the war.

It was Alan Turing who, with his unprecedented mathematical and cryptanalytic abilities, made significant improvements over the Polish-made bombe and devised a machine that could decode the Enigma faster.

Post-war, Turing joined the National Physical Laboratory (U.K.), where he designed the Automatic Computing Engine, one of the earliest stored-program computers.

In the later stages of his career, Turing shifted his focus to theoretical biology. During this period, he mathematically predicted the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction , an occurrence later observed in the 1960s.

11. G.F. Bernhard Riemann

Known For : Riemann integral, Fourier series

Georg Bernhard Riemann was born in a small village near Dannenberg, Germany. Under the tutelage of Carl Friedrich Gauss, Riemann studied differential geometry and developed his theory of higher dimensions . His work is now known as Riemannian geometry.

Johann Gustav Dirichlet also played a significant role in shaping Riemann’s mathematical journey. Employing the Dirichlet principle, Riemann successfully formulated the renowned Riemann mapping theorem.

The legacy of Riemann’s mathematical contributions extends beyond his time, as some of his equations found application in Einstein’s General Relativity theory. His work continues to be foundational in diverse areas of mathematics and physics.

10. Henri Poincaré

Known For : Three-body problem, Chaos theory, Poincaré–Hopf theorem

According to Eric Bell, a notable Scottish Mathematician, Henri Poincare was probably one of the last Universalists, as he thrived in almost all known fields of mathematics at that time.

Poincare, during his lifetime, contributed numerous theories in the fields of mathematical physics, applied mathematics, and astronomy. He was instrumental in the formulation of the theory of Special Relativity .

His exceptional works on Lorentz transformation and the Three-body problem paved the way for mathematicians and astrophysicists to make discoveries about our planet and outer space.

His theoretical works even inspired famous artists, such as Picasso and Braque, to establish an art movement (Cubism) in the 20th century.

9. David Hilbert

Known For : Proof theory, Hilbert’s problems

David Hilbert was perhaps one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He was instrumental in developing fundamental theories in the field of commutative algebra, calculus of variations, and mathematical physics.

Hilbert’s problems (a set of twenty-three mathematical problems, which he published in 1900) influenced groundbreaking studies in different fields of mathematics. Some of those problems remain unsolved to this date.

In his later years, David Hilbert devoted himself to physics. It was during this time he competed against Albert Einstein on general relativity.

8. Fibonacci

Known For : Fibonacci numbers

Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo of Pisa, was one of the most accomplished mathematicians of the High Middle Ages.

Perhaps his most significant contribution to the subject is Liber Abaci, a personal book through which he popularized the Indo-Arabic numeral system (0,1,2,3,4..) and the Fibonacci sequence in Europe.

Today, the sequence is used in computer algorithms and databases.

7. Bernoulli Family

In the world of mathematics, the Bernoulli family holds the highest place. Originating from Antwerp, Belgium, Jacob and his brother Johann Bernoulli were the pioneering mathematicians in the Bernoulli lineage.

Both Jacob and Johann worked together on infinitesimal calculus and are credited for theorems and justifications such as  Bernoulli numbers and the Brachistochrone curve .

Daniel Bernoulli, Jacob’s son, emerged as one of the most distinguished members of this illustrious family. His seminal work, Bernoulli’s Principle, provides a mathematical explanation for the functioning of a carburetor and an airplane wing . Additionally, Daniel made substantial contributions to the fields of probability and statistics.

6. Pythagoras

Known For : Pythagorean theorem, Theory of Proportions

Pythagoras of Samos was born around 570 BC, and like most ancient Greeks, not much is known about his early life. As a philosopher, his works influenced the likes of Plato and Aristotle, as well as Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton.

Although its authenticity remains debatable, many mathematical findings are attributed to Pythagoras. Perhaps the most famous of them is the Pythagoras theorem (named after him). Many historians have, however, stated the theorem was known by the Babylonians well before the time of Pythagoras.

He may have also been responsible for discovering the Theory of Proportions.

5. Carl Friedrich Gauss

Accolades: Lalande Prize (1809), Copley Medal (1838)

Carl Friedrich Gauss was perhaps the most influential mathematician since the Ancient Greeks. His contributions in various fields of mathematics and physics are almost second to none. Gauss started showing signs of brilliance at the early age of seven when he could solve arithmetic progressions much faster than anyone in his class.

Some of his famous works include Gauss’ Law and Theorema Egregium, which concluded that the Earth could not be displayed on a map without some distortion. He was the first to speculate the possibility of non-Euclidean geometry, although his works were never published.

4. Issac Newton

Known For : Newton’s Laws of Motion, Calculus, Newtonian Mechanics

Sir Isaac Newton is one of the founding fathers of classical mechanics and infinitesimal calculus. His views on gravity remained universally accepted until Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Newton’s most remarkable contribution to mathematics is calculus (then called infinitesimals), which he developed independently of his contemporary Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz .

It was Newton who first explained the reason behind tidal disturbances on Earth and helped validate Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. His works on optics gave us the first-ever refracting telescope.

3. Leonhard Euler

Known For : Euler’s conjectures, Euler’s equations, Euler’s numbers

In a tribute to Leonhard Euler’s immense contributions to mathematics, Pierre-Simon Laplace, a notable French astronomer and mathematician, wrote, “Read Euler, read him again and again; he is the master of us all.”

Mathematicians today hold Euler in the highest regard and consider him the most influential and greatest mathematician of the 18th century.

Euler made significant contributions to almost every major field in mathematics, including algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. In the realm of physics, his unparalleled works on fluid dynamics and Fourier series remain unmatched.

2. Archimedes

Known For : Archimedes’ principle; Hydrostatics

Born around 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily, Archimedes was well-versed in mathematics, physics, and astronomy of that time. He was a polymath. However, most of his literary works have not survived.

Archimedes was one of the pioneers of geometry, who derived formulas for the area of a circle, volume, and surface area of a sphere. His method of determining the value of pi remained unchallenged and the only known way to calculate the circumference of a circle for decades.

The Fields Medal, the preeminent honor in mathematics, features a right-facing portrait of Archimedes along with a quote attributed to him.

“Transire suum pectus mundoque potiri” — Rise above oneself and grasp the world.

1. Euclid

Known For : Euclidean geometry; Euclidean algorithm

Euclid of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician widely regarded as the founder of geometry. Euclid’s Elements, a compilation of 13 books, is considered one of the oldest and most influential books on mathematics.

While Euclid’s Elements is primarily celebrated for its foundational contributions to geometry, now recognized as Euclidean geometry, it also provides a thorough introduction to elementary number theory.

Euclid’s achievements extend beyond geometry, with his works on optics earning widespread acknowledgment for their significance in the field.

Euclid’s systematic approach in his work — starting from axioms and then logically obtaining complex results, has influenced some of the greatest minds of later generations. Newton’s Principia Mathematica is a perfect example of it.

Famous Mathematicians of the 21st Century 

17. alessio figalli.

Read the article in @QuantaMagazine about the latest work of Alessio Figalli ( @AFigalli ), Joaquim Serra and Xavier Ros ​Oton ( @ros_xavi ). @ETH_en @UniBarcelona https://t.co/Ph130FI0kE pic.twitter.com/mIwNoKxBOc — @ETH_MATH (@eth_math) October 8, 2021

Known For : The theory of optimal transport

Alessio Figalli has established himself as a leading figure in the study of partial differential equations, metric geometry, and their applications. 

In 2018, he was awarded the Fields Medal for his contributions to the theory of optimal transport , which addresses the optimal ways to transport one distribution of mass to another while keeping the associated transportation cost as low as possible.  

Figalli’s research goes beyond optimal transport, extending into areas like geometric measure theory, functional inequalities, and Monge-Ampère equations. Not only has his work significantly advanced the theoretical aspects of these subjects, but it has also yielded practical applications in diverse fields, including economics and physics.

18. Manjul Bhargava

Known For : Profound contributions to number theory

Manjul Bhargava has enhanced our understanding of representing integers through quadratic forms, a key aspect of number theory.

His work includes groundbreaking results related to the distribution of values of quadratic forms and higher-degree polynomial equations. He developed efficient techniques to study the distribution of integers represented by these equations, deepening our understanding of the arithmetic properties of these forms. 

Bhargava introduced the concept of higher composition laws, generalizing the well-known composition laws for quadratic forms. These laws have applications in algebraic number theory. He also explored the rational points on elliptic curves , which have applications in both pure and applied mathematics. 

Bhargava has received many awards and honors for his work, including the Fields Medal in 2014.

19. Maryam Mirzakhani

Known For : Providing insights into Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces

Maryam Mirzakhani gained international recognition for her groundbreaking work in mathematics, especially in the field of geometry and dynamical systems. She made history in 2014 by becoming the first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal. 

Her early work focused on the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. She developed new methods to calculate the Weil-Petersson volumes of these moduli spaces , providing new insights into the geometry of hyperbolic surfaces. 

She also studied Teichmüller dynamics , which involves understanding the behavior of geometric structures on surfaces. Her research provided detailed insights into the dynamics of the mapping class group and the geometry of moduli spaces, connecting complex analysis, geometry, and dynamics. 

Unfortunately, she passed away in 2017 at the age of 40. However, her legacy continues to inspire young students, particularly women, to pursue careers in math and contribute to the advancement of the discipline. 

20. Maryna Viazovska

Known For : Solving the sphere-packing problem in dimension 8

Maryna Viazovska is famous for her involvement in a collaborative effort related to the “sphere-packing problem.” It’s a classical problem in math that involves determining the most efficient way to arrange identical spheres in a given space in such a way that they do not overlap or leave voids. 

In 2016, Maryna Viazovska was part of a group of mathematicians who provided a groundbreaking solution to this problem. The solution involves finding the optimal way to pack spheres in eight-dimensional space, which has applications in coding theory and other areas.

Her contributions were recognized with the prestigious Fields Medal, which she was awarded in 2022. She became the first person with a degree from a Ukrainian university to ever receive this distinguished award.

Beyond the academic realm, her achievements have been acknowledged on a broader scale. For example, in December 2022, she was honored as one of the BBC 100 Women.

21. Grigori Perelman

Known for : Solving Poincaré conjecture

Grigori Perelman has made notable contributions to the fields of geometric analysis, geometric topology, and Riemannian geometry. He gained international fame for his work on the Poincaré conjecture, a longstanding problem in topology. 

This problem remained unsolved for almost a century until Perelman claimed to have proved it in a series of papers posted online between 2002 and 2003. 

He won numerous awards and prizes for his contributions, including the Fields Medal and a one-million-dollar prize from the Clay Mathematics Institute. However, he declined most of them and withdrew from active participation in the mathematical community. 

His refusal of prestigious awards and his decision to step away from the academic world have made him a somewhat mysterious figure in the mathematical community. 

More to Know 

What is the fields medal, and why is it prestigious.

The Fields Medal is one of the highest honors a mathematician can receive. It is often described as the “Nobel Prize of Mathematics.” It is named after Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields, who came up with the idea of establishing this award. 

First awarded in 1936, the Fields Medal is given every four years during the International Congress of Mathematicians. It is awarded to mathematicians under the age of 40. 

Recipients receive a gold medal, global recognition, and a monetary prize, which, as of 2006, amounts to CA$15,000.

Are there any famous female mathematicians?

Of course, there have been many accomplished female mathematicians who have made major contributions in this field throughout history. The most popular names are 

1. Hypatia was a prominent ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer who lived in Egypt during the late 4th and early 5th centuries AD. She is known for her detailed commentaries on Euclid’s famous mathematical work “Elements.” She also worked on Diophantus’s “Arithmetica,” which ultimately contributed to the development of algebraic concepts.

2. Sofya Kovalevskaya  was the first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics and become a full professor in Europe. She is best known for her Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem , which deals with the uniqueness of solutions to specific types of partial differential equations, specifically those related to the theory wave. 

3. Emmy Noether is best known for her work in abstract algebra, particularly in the development of Noether’s theorem . This theorem played a critical role in the development of modern theoretical physics, including the formulation of the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

4. Mary Cartwright worked in the fields of dynamical systems, chaos theory, and differential equations. Her contributions to Cartwright–Littlewood Theorem helped us understand the stability of solutions to differential equations. 

5. Karen Uhlenbeck is known for her groundbreaking work in geometric analysis and gauge theory. She is the first, and so far only, woman to win the Abel Prize , one of the most prestigious awards in mathematics. 

What are some unsolved problems in mathematics today?

While there are countless unsolved problems in mathematics, some have puzzled mathematicians for decades or even centuries. The most popular ones are: 

1)  P versus NP problem : It asks whether every problem for which a proposed solution can be quickly verified by a computer (NP, “nondeterministic polynomial time”) can also be solved quickly by a computer (P, “polynomial time”). It is also one of the seven Millennium Problems . 

2) The Riemann Hypothesis : It deals with the distribution of prime numbers. The hypothesis has remained unproven since its formulation in the 19th century.

3)  The Twin Prime Conjecture : It proposes that there are infinitely many pairs of twin primes (which are prime numbers having a difference of 2, for example, 41 and 43 or 71 and 73). Although there is strong numerical evidence, there is no rigorous proof. 

4) 3n+1 problem : it is a simple mathematical sequence that starts with any positive integer and repeatedly applies certain operations . This conjecture asks whether all sequences eventually reach the number 1.

5)  The Goldbach Conjecture : It was proposed by the German mathematician Christian Goldbach in a letter to Euler in 1742. It  suggests that every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers.  

Read More 

15 Scientists That Were Not Rewarded Fairly For Their Contribution

15 Famous Physicists Alive Today And Their Contribution  

10 Fun Math Games That Will Make You Smarter

Varun Kumar

I am a professional technology and business research analyst with more than a decade of experience in the field. My main areas of expertise include software technologies, business strategies, competitive analysis, and staying up-to-date with market trends.

I hold a Master's degree in computer science from GGSIPU University. If you'd like to learn more about my latest projects and insights, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via email at [email protected] .

Related articles

Youth Suicide Rates Climbs To 20-Year High In The United States

New Theory Explains Origin Of Earth’s Water

Leave a reply cancel reply, 21 comments.

What about Einstein

Where have you been living…, ? under a rock perhaps? Einstein was “…outted…” decades ago as a plagiaristic Jew and used by the Jew World Order to make Jews look smarter than everyone else… Jews control the mass media and therefore use it to convince the masses that theya re the victims, when in fact they are the criminals.

Einstein was incapable to graduate his high school and he did not ‘sparked’ at all in all schools he started an didn’t graduate, but he knew to cheat. The preliminaries of his theory of relativity he co-authored in Germany was published as ‘original’ in U, and his friend’s name and contribution to this theory was forgotten. The theory itself is practically impracticable and founded an ‘relative’ truths that only Ein Stein and a lot of other rock-heads could verify; as for example: the parallel lines meet in infinite or the straight line light cubs when passing near a star, a planet or other celestial body. This is the Judaic conspiration in science. Newton’s gravitational line will never curb.

Bro you are literally a Nazi

Let’s keep the antisemitism down to a dull roar.

Having said that, Einstein was a physicist, not a mathematician.

Albert Einstein is NEVER a Pure Mathematician.

As for Applied Mathematician, or, Applied Mathematical Scientist/Applied Scientific Mathematician:

Yes, truth is: Einstein is “50%” – because of the other “50% of Einstein’s science career” as Scientist is provided by Einstein’s 1st Lawful Wife: she is GOD’S both Mathematician & Scientist: Ms Mileva Marity Maric who is GOD’S Gift to Albert Einstein as his [lifetime] wife & co-author [GOD is a living Witness to all these Einstein’s “secrets”…] in the closed collaboration & research works on mathematical natural sciences w/ her initiative INNOVATION IDEAS that help Einstein at least 81% in completing all their (both Einstein’s & Marity-Maric’s] 11 Papers from 1896 to 1912 [before Einstein did separate off from her 1913-1914 & ultimately did divorce her 1919, against GOD’S WiLL thus causing Einstein’s Scientific Career slowed & full of mistakes, HARDLY to progress, particularly Einstein’s General Relativity in 1915 [which 96% Mathematics & Science Formulation & Explanation originated from Marity Maric, including the “G” Cosmological Constant, which comes from Marity Maric ORIGINALLY way way back in 1908-1912, which originally Marity Maric mathematically showed to Einstein that the Universe is mathematically tenable if it is moving & expanding to the utmost annoyance & REJECTION by Einstein back then (1908-1912) to have even SHOUTED at Mileva Marity Maric for contesting his (Einstein’s) idea of the Static Universe based on Einstein’s computation mathematics as “corrected & reconstructed mathematically by Mileva Marity Maric (during 1908-1912)”. Thus, all 11 Papers from 1896 to 1912 – including the 1905 papers – are Co-AUTHORED both by Einstein & Marity Maric (Einstein’s 1st Lawful Wife who KNOWS Mathematics & Natural Physics more than Albert Einstein. This is the Truth and GOD is the WITNESS to all these “secrets” of Albert Einstein.

Bro. JOSUE, pls wait for the LinkedIn Publication of my Paper on these “historical secrets” of Albert Einstein & about the “true Albert Einstein” – that will reveal them & correct the History of Albert Einstein, including the “History of Mileva Marity Maric” to put JUSTICE to the Truth in the History of Relativity Theory & all other 10 Papers during 1896 to 1912 Milestone Timeline of Albert Einstein’s life. After Einstein’s decision in separation from his wife, Einstein had hard times & difficulty in progressing his scientific career; GOD (“The Old One”) stopped communicating to Einstein, even until his dying moments in April 17-18, 1955, could hardly formulate his final Paper Cosmic Relativity to figure out the GUT by which Einstein struggled 40 yrs from 1915 to 1955 in his death bed at Princeton Hospital, 1:15 AM, 18 April 1955, to figure out his Grand Unified Theory (of Forces) to complete FAILURE – all for which & by which REASON alone results from Einstein’s GREATEST Mistake of his scientific career: Einstein’s inhuman treatment upon & gross separation/divorce off his wife: Mileva Marity Maric against GOD’S WiLL.

Right now, Einstein has been suffering in the Spirit World and the ONLY way to ‘cure’ his suffering is for Einstein to reveal to Earth & all humanity who the “true Albert Einstein is” and about the truth on Mrs Mileva (Marity) Maric Einstein in the context of truth on “co-authorship” for & of all the 11 Papers which Einstein falsely declared to the World that he is the sole author – in the period from 1896 to 1912. This is so because in the Spirit World, no one can keep secrets or, lies before GOD. – Gpw Bernard Bautista Rementilla

World famous physicist & mathematican

what about Arayabhata?????? he discovered the 0 as well as the decimals

Should the writer of the comment be a Jew, for the content to pass the Jewish censorship?

Please search the basics, where does Algebra come from Geometry Trigonometry Who provided Zero to the western world

They were Muslims. I know you don’t like it. But sorry mate you can’t change the fact. If you are not bias and a writer to teach others instead of promoting your thoughts you would do research.

Kid, your article is written well but you need to research before writing.

Ahem … Where the hell is Cauchy? Where are Leibnitz and Pascal? Why is Pythagoras here instead of Diophantus? Where the hell is Kurt Goedel?

I’d have thought that Cauchy, Riemann, Euler, Gauss, and Newton would form the top 5, not necessarily in that order …

This is a complete nonsense. How could a unknown “Srinivasa Ramanujan” be in the ranking while neither Galois nor Abel is ?

Hi, Mr VARUN, w/ all due respect [since it is your opinion; nevertheless…] concerning your List (contents; or, personalities that are not in the List; or, are not to be included bit is/are in the List) & sequence about your 16 Greatest Mathematicians – I’m sorry but I disagree w/ you in the context of application coverage significance (say in: improving, advancing the mathematical technique principle, theorem, etc., ; historical value, depth, & breadth. Also, kindly we MUST specify: there are 2 Types of Mathematicians: Pure Mathematicians & Applied Mathematicians… [If I am student of mathematics who values the works of mathematicians in history, the, I would only be confused …. I appreciate you efforts, anyway; but pls consider those students of mathematics in weighing the facts & truth of their (mathematicians’) contributions in history of mathematics: pure mathematics…; or, applied mathematics.

Mulatu Lemma is also one of the top mathematician discovering the Mulatu Numbers. Google read about this mathematician.

He is known for discovering the Mulatu Numbers. Great mathematician.

He is one of the best mathematicians who published numerous papers on peer reviewed journals

Mulatu Lemma was selected as the top professor of 2023 by IAOTP.

Hi, Bro. Varun KUMAR, peace be you & safe good health wish for you from me & w/ prayers ‘from’ our One Absolute Original 1st & Last Parental GOD. Now,

Re: Of your Article here – w/ & by all respect, I’m sorry but, I re-constructively do not agree: both in names & sequencing. Pls remember your “central theme is: ‘The Famous & Greatest Mathematicians’ … [More so if – as always it is: after ‘Mathematicians’, usually suffixed – ‘of All Time’]. Why I don’t agree – “re-constructively” – Well, 1stly: How I wish you’re gifted by/allowed by GOD to “enter” the Spirit World & be able to see, talk to each of the mathematicians you enlisted & the sequencing [numerically] you assigned to each & ASK in silent using your heart & mind [don’t speak using voicing physically, etc., it won’t work]; USE Heart & purity of your purpose, while looking at each straight to the eyes: Speak using your Heart * Mind; of course pray 1st to GOD & ask humbly His Permission; Ask “all possible questions” about the ‘history of mathematics and mathematicians strictly & strictly living are existing & living (respectively) in their own time – you will be BOTH amazed & disappointed about your expectations: How come..?

1. Suggestion only & Clue – OBJECTIVELY: Pls in final writing off after your review, back to your 16 Greatest & Famous Mathematicians; pls from their respective time to present: kindly CONSIDER the following A. Breadth, B. Depth, and C. Historical Significance: (in the context their respective Mathematical Contribution as to its “application importance” both in theory and practice, from their time to the present contextual applicative coverage to scope of the current level of mathematical development & advancement history stage ‘where we are NOW’.

2. Bear in mind: there are two (2) Major Categories of Mathematicians: A. Pure Mathematicians and B. Applied mathematicians. Again, based on [breadth, depth, and historical significance], if your mathematician chosen is “not only “Pure Mathematician” but is also “Applied Mathematician” w/ equally & more so & yes, more so highly regarded as his ‘application mathematical contribution’ is practically universal, of great impact to natural sciences/applied sciences & engineering! Then, that’s another ADDED Credit Points.

For Example(s). David Hilbert and Carl F Gauss and Albert Einstein are “admiring fans” of GF Bernhard Riemann; yet Riemann’s mathematical contribution(s) are so vast covering wide range of ‘applied/natural sciences & even to engineering & medical technology sciences – Today! and even James Clerk Maxwell (1 greatest applied mathematician and 1 greatest mathematical scientist of all time had his famous Electro-Magnetic Theory (EMT) Equations did/do PROVE in yet only 1 most amazing natural mathematical proof available thus far – as when it is used upon/ in Modern Applied Medical Science to Human Health Parameter(s) Determination involving: Energy, Frequency & Resonance! as to have provided Application Specimen of Proof to & that this Riemann’s Hypothesis is TRUE – yes, it’s TRUE and Accurate Mathematical (not Theory & not just Hypothesis but) a Riemannian Principle of Most Advanced Mathematical Theorem yet w/ the greatest impact & application [in terms of breadth, depth, and historical importance] to both “Pure Number Principle, Prime Number System Theorem, and others, in addition to its (“Riemann Hypothesis’s”) application Medical Sciences of Today’s 21st Century!

Also, GF Bernhard Riemann’s Mathematical Works are [esp. Riemann’s Non Euclidean Geometry (NEG) encompasses/embraces & even extends beyond via Vector Duality Matrix Field (Group) Principle of Mathematics! the NEG of Gauss [C,F. Gauss, one greatest mathematician of all time w/ equally famous greatest mathematician of all time Leonard Euler!) upon knowing Riemann’s NEG in 1854, left his own NEG System & so excited before a distinguished mathematical physicist, W.E. Weber in attendance right after Riemann’s New & Higher Dimensional NEG Lecture 1854, & Gauss, clasping his hands! finding in Riemann his student: “my hero!” & did spend the rest of his remaining lifetime on Earth studying Riemann’s NEG till he died on 23 February, 1855. NEXT –

3. Consider the greatest specifics of mathematical significance of their mathematical works in Number System, in Proofs of Number Theorems, and so on,, so vast & equally of practical application values of their works: the Triumvirate Pillars of Modern Mathematics w/ Riemann: Isaac Newton, C. F. Gauss & Leonard Euler, far greater than Euclid’s Work ‘despite’ that whose mathematics did some impact “bases in mathematical proof theorems” [of geometry approach] some 23 centuries later in his life (he died ‘mid-3rd century’ approx.)] because, after Isaac Newton [wow! 1 of the most Important (few) Applied Mathematicians of all time & equally 1 greatest mathematical physicist of all time (he died 31 March, 1727 ], it is discovered in Science Community Authority that “Euclid Elements” or, Euclidean Geometry can Hardly HOLD True & can HARDLY Fit In the complex mathematical laws of “Natural Phenomena” – any more; but not Riemann NEG! Wow – a very complex COOL Truth of Nature’s Laws! Yes, Wow! It is Albert Einstein who 1st sensed & did apply & [he is correct!] Riemann’s Geometry [NEG] to his [Einstein’s most famous (one of the most famous mathematical field natural science applications!)] General Relativity, 1915 AD.! And other proof examples … we have these open to all in our History of Mathematicians; History of Applied Natural Mathematical Sciences and History of (Individual) Mathematician’s Life, provided by Authorities on the Subject – your Title-Subject. Thank you. Gpw_BBR

Dr. Lemma is one of the best mathematicians. The world is blessed to have him, and it is an honor to know him.

Mulatu Lemma is one of the finest mathematicians who discovered the Mulatu Numbers in 2011. He enjoys playing with mathematics and introducing new theorems. He has published over 170 papers. I believe he will continue to publish more.

Well known on his breakthrough discoveries such as Mulatu number, Mulatu Lemma is one of the contemporary exceptional mathematicians. His publication portfolio in pure mathematics has reached 200.

Trefethen's list of 13 classic papers in applied mathematics

• J.W. Cooley and J.W. Tukey, " An algorithm for the machine calculation of complex Fourier series ," Math. Comp. , 19 (1965), pp. 297–301.
• R. Courant, K. Friedrichs, and H. Lewy, " On the partial difference equations of mathematical physics ," IBM J. Res. Develop. , 11 (1967), pp. 215–234.
• A.S. Householder, " Unitary triangularization of a nonsymmetric matrix ," J. Assoc. Comput. Mach. , 5 (1958), pp. 339–342.
• C.F. Curtiss and J.O. Hirschfelder, " Integration of stiff equations ," Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. , 38 (1952), pp. 235–243.
• C. de Boor, " On calculating with B -splines ," J. Approximation Theory , 6 (1972), pp. 50–62.
• R. Courant, " Variational methods for the solution of problems of equilibrium and vibrations ," Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. , 49 (1943), pp. 1–23.
• G. Golub and W. Kahan, " Calculating the singular values and pseudo-inverse of a matrix ," J. Soc. Indust. Appl. Math. Ser. B Numer. Anal. , 2 (1965), pp. 205–224.
• A. Brandt, " Multi-level adaptive solutions to boundary-value problems ," Math. Comp. , 31 (1977), no. 138, pp. 333–390.
• M.R. Hestenes and E. Stiefel, " Methods of conjugate gradients for solving linear systems ," J. Research Nat. Bur. Standards , 49 (1952), pp. 409–436.
• R. Fletcher and M.J.D. Powell, "A rapidly convergent descent method for minimization," Comput. J. , 6 (1963/1964), pp. 163–168.
• G. Wanner, E. Hairer, and S.P. Nørsett, " Order stars and stability theorems ," BIT , 18 (1978), no. 4, pp. 475–489.
• N. Karmarkar, "A new polynomial-time algorithm for linear programming," Combinatorica , 4 (1984), no. 4, pp. 373–395.
• L. Greengard and V. Rokhlin, " A fast algorithm for particle simulations ," J. Comput. Phys. , 73 (1987), no. 2, pp. 325–348.

Origin of this list

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Essays and thoughts on mathematics

Many distinguished mathematicians, at some point of their career, collected their thoughts on mathematics (its aesthetic, purposes, methods, etc .) and on the work of a mathematician in written form.

For instance:

• W. Thurston wrote the lovely essay On proof and progress in mathematics in response to an article by Jaffe and Quinn ; some points made there are also presented in an answer given on MathOverflow ( What's a mathematician to do? ).
• More recently, T. Tao shared some personal thoughts and opinions on what makes "good quality mathematics" in What is good mathematics? .
• G. Hardy wrote the famous little book A Mathematician's Apology , which influenced, at least to some extent, several generations of mathematicians.

Personally, I've been greatly inspired by the two writings listed under (1.) -- they are one of the main reasons why I started studying mathematics -- and, considering that one of them appeared on MathOverflow , I'd like to propose here -- if it is appropriate -- to create a " big-list " of the kind of works described in the above blockquote.

I'd suggest (again, if it is appropriate) to give one title (or link) per answer with a short summary.

• A related question, which I've found very interesting, is Good papers/books/essays about the thought process behind mathematical research .
• Only slightly related (but surely interesting): Which mathematicians have influenced you the most?
• A single paper everyone should read? is not quite related, but still somewhat relevant (especially the most up-voted answer).
• reference-request
• soft-question
• 1 $\begingroup$ Hardy's apology is available here: math.ualberta.ca/~mss/misc/A%20Mathematician%27s%20Apology.pdf $\endgroup$ –  Goldstern Oct 5, 2015 at 15:33
• $\begingroup$ This seems a little broad--can you be a bit more specific? I gave one answer, but do you want things like Dyson's "Birds and Frogs" or Gower's "Two cultures"? $\endgroup$ –  Kimball Oct 5, 2015 at 22:29
• $\begingroup$ @Kimball, first of all, thanks for your answer, the book you suggested seems very interesting. Then, yes, I've read both those articles and, although they didn't come to my mind when I asked the question, they are surely two very insightful additions to this list. Thanks again. :) $\endgroup$ –  user81051 Oct 6, 2015 at 18:12

22 Answers 22

There are many snippets that can be found. I like the following bit of the foreword by Thurston to J. H. Hubbard's Teichmüller Theory . I share the remarks because I think you simply can't have enough of Bill Thurston's insights:

"Mathematics is a paradoxical, elusive subject, with the habit of appearing clear and straightforward, then zooming away and leaving us stranded in a blank haze. Why? It is easy to forget that mathematics is primarily a tool for human thought. Mathematical thought is far better defined and far more logical than everyday thought, and people can be fooled into thinking of mathematics as logical, formal, symbolic reasoning. But this is far from reality. Logic, formalization, and symbols can be very powerful tools for humans to use, but we are actually very poor at purely formal reasoning; computers are far better at formal computation and formal reasoning, but humans are far better mathematicians. The most important thing about mathematics is how it resides in the human brain. Mathematics is not something we sense directly: it lives in our imagination and we sense it only indirectly. The choices of how it flows in our brains are not standard and automatic, and can be very sensitive to cues and context. Our minds depend on many interconnected special-purpose but powerful modules. We allocate everyday tasks to these various modules instinctively and subconsciously. The term `geometry', for instance, refers to a pattern of processing within our brains related to our spatial and visual senses, more than it refers to a separate content area of mathematics. One illustration of this is the concept of correlation between two measurements on a set, which is formally nearly identical with the concept of cosine of the angle between two vectors. The content is almost the same (for correlation, you first project to a hyperplane before measuring the cosine of the angle), but the human psychology is very different. Each mode of thinking has its own power, and ideally, people harness both modes of thought to work together. However, in formalized expositions, this psychological > difference vanishes. In the same way, any idea in mathematics can be thought about in many different ways, with competing advantages. When mathematics is explained, formalized and written down, there is a strong tendency to favor symbolic modes of thought at the expense of everything else, because symbols are easier to write and more standardized than other modes of reasoning. But when mathematics loses its connection to our minds, it dissolves into a haze. I've loved to read all my life. I went to New College of Sarasota, Florida, a small college that was just starting up with a strong emphasis on independent study, so I ended up learning a good deal of mathematics by reading mathematics books. At that time, I prided myself in reading quickly. I was really amazed by my first encounters with serious mathematics textbooks. I was very interested and impressed by the quality of the reasoning, but it was quite hard to stay alert and focused. After a few experiences of reading a few pages only to discover that I really had no idea what I'd just read, I learned to drink lots of coffee, slow way down, and accept that I needed to read these books at 1/10th or 1/50th standard reading speed, pay attention to every single word and backtrack to look up all the obscure numbers of equations and theorems in order to follow the arguments. Even so, when something was ``left to the reader'', I generally left it as well. At the time, I could appreciate that the mathematics was an impressive intellectual edifice, and I could follow the steps of proofs. I assumed that such an elaborate buildup must be leading to a fantastic denouement, which I eagerly awaited -- and waited, and waited. It was only much later, after much of the mathematics I had studied had come alive for me that I came to appreciate how ineffective and denatured the standard ((definition theorem proof)^n remark)^m style is for communicating mathematics. When I reread some of these early texts, I was stunned by how well their formalism and indirection hid the motivation, the intuition and the multiple ways to think about their subjects: they were unwelcoming to the full human mind. John Hubbard approaches mathematics with his whole mind. If you page through the current book, you will see many intriguing figures. That is a first sign: figures are one of the most important ways to keep our thought processes going in our whole brains, rather than settling down into the linguistic, symbol-handling areas. Of course, the figures in your imagination are even more important. Geometric ideas can be conveyed with words and with symbols, sometimes more effectively than with pictures, but a lack of figures is a good indication of a lack of geometry. Another important part of human thinking is the emotional aspect. In mathematics, what is intriguing, puzzling, interesting, surprising, boring, tedious, exciting is crucial; they are not incidental, they shape how we think. Personally, my thinking was shaped by boredom: I develop intense urges to come up with `easy' methods in order to avoid tedious computations that are opaque to me. Hubbard, a principal participant in the mathematics he is discussing, has done an excellent job in conveying the drama."

There are also many very good interviews that can be found, such as this one with Connes , as well as the advice to young mathematicians in the Princeton Companion to Mathematics .

A Mathematician's lament by Paul Lockhart: Reflections on how badly mathematics are taught these days. Imagining how it would be if music was taught the same way.

Indiscrete Thoughts by Gian-Carlo Rota and Discrete Thoughts by Kac, Rota, and Schwartz.

Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery by Imre Lakatos: The sequence of steps through which mathematical ideas can be made to grow in an informal setting is explained through Socratic dialogues between a teacher and students. A beautiful read.

Since you mentioned A Mathematician's Apology : Michael Harris' Mathematics Without Apology .

Here's an excerpt explaining the title:

These attempts at justifications are the 'apologies' of the title. They usually take one of three forms. Pure research in mathematics as in other fields is good because it often leads to useful consequences (Steven Shapin calls this the Golden Goose argument); it is true because it offers a privileged access to certain truths; it is beautiful , an art form. To claim that these virtues are present in mathematics is not wrong, but it sheds little light on what is distinctively mathematical and even less about pure mathematicians' intentions . Intentions lie at the core of this book. I want to give the reader a sense of the mathematical life -- what it feels like to be a mathematician in a society of mathematicians where the first and second lives overlap.

Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality by Edward Frenkel is, in my opinion, a lot better than Lockhart's lament.

The Mathematical Experience by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh is a wonderful collection of essays on mathematics and on the experiences and culture of mathematicians. Written back in the 1980's, it has extremely insightful discussions of many of the same topics that nowadays are discussed on MO. For example, the essay "The Ideal Mathematician," which describes a hypothetical "ideal" mathematician working on the made-up area of "non-Riemannian hypersquares" is absolutely hilarious. Highly recommended!

• 1 $\begingroup$ The "Ideal Mathematician" is, to my mind, a poor mathematician. (It was a caricature, yes, but one which was a little too extreme for me.) $\endgroup$ –  Todd Trimble ♦ Oct 5, 2015 at 16:29
• 1 $\begingroup$ @ToddTrimble, I disliked it too. For myself, the more bearing what I'm working on has on undergraduate or even high-school mathematics, the more excited I am about it. $\endgroup$ –  goblin GONE Aug 23, 2016 at 14:55

Mathematics as Metaphor by Yuri Manin (both the title of the linked book which is a collection of essays, as well as the title of one particular essay in there). At least some of the essays you can find online.

I Want to be a Mathematician , by Paul Halmos.

• $\begingroup$ Indeed I love that book. Thanks for adding it. $\endgroup$ –  user81051 Oct 6, 2015 at 18:13

Eugene Wigner: The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences

The statement that the laws of nature are written in the language of mathematics was probably made three hundred years ago [It is attributed to Galileo]. It is now more true than ever before … Surely complex numbers are far from natural or simple and they cannot be suggested by physical observations. Furthermore, the use of complex numbers is close to being a necessity in the formulation of the laws of quantum mechanics. It is difficult to avoid the impression that a miracle confronts us here , quite comparable in its striking nature to the miracle that the human mind can string a thousand arguments together without getting itself into contradictions, or to the two miracles of the existence of laws of nature and of the human mind’s capacity to divine them. The closest explanation [for this mathematical universe] is Einstein’s statement that “the only physical theories which we are willing to accept are the beautiful ones” … the concepts of mathematics have this quality of beauty.

• 2 $\begingroup$ I have to disagree. Wigner's assertion that "mathematics is the science of skillful operations with concepts and rules invented just for this purpose" is the whole basis of his piece, and it doesn't have much to do with mathematics. The article is quasi-religious speculation based on this false premise. (The example that Wigner opens the article with is a case in point - he marvels at the appearance of $\sqrt{\pi}$ in the pdf for the normal distribution, as if this were magic. But probability theory was developed with very practical applications in mind.) $\endgroup$ –  Paul Levy May 23, 2017 at 9:31

A Drifter of Dadaist Persuasion by Matilde Marcolli, published in Art in the Life of Mathematicians (Edited by Anna Kepes Szemerédi) American Mathematical Society, 2015, pp.210-231

The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field (Jacques Hadamard's 1945 essay)

• $\begingroup$ This book was very influential to me, and made a huge difference in helping me understand m own process of doing mathematics. $\endgroup$ –  Zach H Jul 17, 2017 at 17:13
• $\begingroup$ I love "the Poincare-Hadamard metaphor" described there! It says that our thoughts conscious and unconscious ones and their interactions could be explained via a mechanical model of states of a system of particles(the details inside). Very inspiring and still I haven't found an enough obstruction to the presented point of view there to the modern neuroscience, but I do not know much about it. An expertise needed! :) $\endgroup$ –  P. Grabowski Apr 14, 2020 at 18:42

The Mathematician by John Von Neumannn.

Enigmas of Chance , by Mark Kac.

I would add "Letters to a Young Mathematician" by Ian Stewart

I recommend:

Vladimir Arnold: Yesterday and Long Ago . This is a very enjoyable and highly interesting collection of anecdotes and historical remarks. The latest Russian edition of this book contains some more chapters. Richard Hamming: You and Your Research , transcribed and edited by J F Kaiser, reprinted in Tveito et al: Simula Research Laboratory . This is the text of a lecture of Hamming.

Birth of a Theorem , by French candidate for Parliament Cédric Villani

• 4 $\begingroup$ Now French member of Parliament Cédric Villani. $\endgroup$ –  Michael Lugo Jul 17, 2017 at 15:16

Here are additional mathematicians' thoughts.

S. Ulam, Adventures of a mathematician .A recollection of his life, from Lwow to Los Alamos. I am linking to excerpts. The book is still available for purchase.

Advices to a Young mathematician , a collection of advice and anecdotes by M. Atiyah, B. Bollobas, A. Connes, D. McDuff and P. Sarnak.

A. Borel, Art and science (Math. Intelligencer vol.5 1983, translation from German). A text for a general audience about the relationship between art and mathematics.

R. P. Langlands Is there beauty in mathematical theories? , this text is actually about number theory, old and new.

T. Gowers The two cultures of mathematics , another take on the dichotomy between problem solving and theory building.

A. Connes A view of mathematics , a thorough exposition of A. Connes'philosophical stance about space and physics. Targeted at a scientific audience.

D. Mumford, the dawning of the age of stochasticity , from algebraic geometry to statistics.

Y. Manin, Interrelations between Mathematics and Physics , on the divergence between mathematics and physics in the XXe century.

M. Gromov, ergobrain , one of the most surprising inquiry about life and mathematics.

I end that list with a text from a french mathematician about the future of mathematics: Poincare, l'avenir des mathematiques .

Perhaps a little broader in range/scope than the original question intended — but then again, perhaps not — the essays collected in

Mathématiques, mathematiciens et société. Publications Mathématiques d'Orsay no. 86 74-16 (1974)

I was led to this when someone somewhere posted a link to Vergne's Témoignage d'une mathématicienne , which is one of the essays in this volume, and — I must confess — is the only one I've read, although the other ones do look interesting

In the Princeton Companion to Mathematics , there is a section entitled Advice to a Young Mathematician (pdf), containing essays by Atiyah, Bollobás, Connes, McDuff and Sarnak.

A Mathematician's Miscellany (reprinted, with additional material, as Littlewood's Miscellany by CUP in 1986) is worthwhile reading.

Clifford Truesdell published a series of essays as An Idiot's Fugitive Essays on Science Methods, Criticism, Training, Circumstances (Springer, 1984), which sets out in a forthright manner the author's views on mathematics and science.

A really nice article by Andrei Toom about mathematical education, especially in the US, got recently mentioned in a comment to this question.

• Featured on Meta
• New Focus Styles & Updated Styling for Button Groups
• Upcoming initiatives on Stack Overflow and across the Stack Exchange network

Famous Mathematicians

List and Biographies of Great Mathematicians

Mathematics is an inter-disciplinary discipline that deals with numbers, data, space, quantity and structure among other similar components. Mathematicians are the experts in this field who possess an extensive knowledge of the subject and continuously contribute to its developments either by means of theory or practical application.

There are innumerable famous mathematicians who made extraordinary contributions to the field of mathematics since the day the discipline came into being. Thales of Miletus is said to be one of the earliest pioneers of mathematics and a true expert of the field. He lived around c. 624–c.546 BC making the earliest discoveries in mathematics. Moreover, he is accredited for applying the use of deductive reasoning on geometry. Besides Thales, there was Pythagoras of Samos whose existence dates back to c. 582. He was so taken with mathematics that he lived by the doctrine that all can be explained through this field and numbers make up all. The terminology mathematics was the coinage of Pythagoreans who studied under him.

Men may have ruled throughout the centuries and made countless discoveries but there were women, even if few and far between, who made considerable contribution to scientific developments. The first ever female mathematician recorded in the history was Hypatia of Alexandria . She wrote several papers on applied mathematics following her ascension as Librarian at the Great Library that was previously ran by her father. The hypocritical Christian society at that time could not see a woman in charge, thus over some political dispute they publicly punished her severely.

During the medieval times, the Muslim scholars made astonishing scientific discoveries. The government funded the scholars and owing to equally beneficial patronage the scientific developments flourished in the Islamic world. Translations of a number of scientific manuscripts into other languages was encouraged by Caliphs in particular time periods. Al-Khwarizmi , a leading Muslim mathematician, was one such figure who benefited from the support. Most of the Muslim mathematicians were polymaths whose expertise extended to other related fields such as astronomy, algebra, optics etc.

With the advent of Renaissance in the sixteenth century, there was a great emphasis that was laid on scientific growth and mathematics throughout Europe. It was a time of great transformation and transition as the feudal based society was then gradually began to shift to more secular traditions. There were numerous key mathematicians who existed at that time but had other main occupations. Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia was a bookkeeper and a notable engineer, while Robert Recorde was a physician and François Viète was an attorney by profession. It suggests that mathematics was not considered a serious discipline, worthy enough to provide a respected profession. It used to be a fleeting passion of a few who could survive on other occupations.

However, the tide changed and many mathematically inclined figures flocked to academic institutes to receive formal and systematic knowledge in mathematics. Free thinking began to be promoted in British universities during the early seventeenth century which was already present in German and Italian universities. It led to the revolutionary progress in the following generation of students.

Twentieth century preeminent German mathematicians, Albert Einstein was a child prodigy who excelled in the discipline like no other had. He himself expressed his genius saying, “ I never failed in mathematics…before I was fifteen I had mastered differential integral calculus .” Another noteworthy mathematician Isaac Newton had English origins. The seventeenth century mathematician is best known for his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy . The book played a pivotal role in the comprehension of mechanics.

Besides, there was an illustrious Italian mathematician during middle ages, who was credited for introducing Arabic-Hindu number system European world. Leonardo Pisano Bigollo , also known as Fibonacci, pioneered the ‘Fibonacci sequence’. René Descartes was another distinguished multi-talented mathematician of French origin, who lived during the first half of the seventeenth century. Contemporary mathematicians regard him as the father of analytical geometry and he also contributed to the understanding of infinitesimal calculus and analysis.

One of the early mathematicians, Archimedes was a Greek scholar. He was known for propagating the mathematics of antiquity. Moreover, he calculated the exact value of pi and laid down principles to be used in applied mathematics. Belonging to American nationality, John Forbes Nash, Jr. was a leading early twentieth century mathematician. His most prominent work includes the Nash embedding theorem. He is attributed to the development in game theory, partial differential equations and differential geometry.

During the seventeenth century a distinguished scholar came to the mathematical forefront in France, Blaise Pascal . He was regarded very highly in two areas of mathematics; probability theory and projective geometry. Additionally, he earned fame for Pascal’s Triangle, a research paper on the table of binomial coefficients. The earliest mathematical genius who pioneered the field of geometry was Euclid . He was a Greek scholar who wrote books on math that are considered some of the earliest written discourse in the field. Elements was written from pedagogical perspective to teach mathematics and geometry. ‘Euclidean geometry’ was the term pioneered to reflect his system of mathematics.

As mentioned earlier that women mathematicians were very rare but those who explored this discipline left an indelible footprint on the subject by making advancements through their significant discoveries. Ada Lovelace was one such rare influential female English mathematicians. Her work on Euclidean geometry remained an astounding scientific development. Furthermore, she composed an algorithm that was later employed in a computer program that led to her recognition as the first computer programmer. Another leading mathematician and computer programmer of twentieth century was Alan Turing who is best known for being the father of computer science. His mathematical study paved way for the development of an algorithm which proved to be beneficial in the computational programs.

A Hungarian twentieth century mathematician, John von Neumann , made unprecedented scientific discoveries employing mathematical calculations. He is responsible for mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics and credited for operator theory. Fermat’s Last Theorem was one of the most complex theorems known to mathematicians throughout centuries. It was considered unsolvable until Andrew Wiles , a British mathematician proved it in 1994.

Aforementioned mathematicians were some of the most influential figures in the history who not only expanded the area of mathematical study but made distinct scientific discoveries which led to the development of mankind, in simpler words.

• Skip to main content

India’s Largest Career Transformation Portal

Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan for Students | 500+ Words Essay

December 10, 2020 by Sandeep

Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan: Srinivasa Ramanujan was a renowned mathematician of India. He was born on 22nd December 1887 in Madras during the British Raj. Since childhood, he was drawn towards maths and took a particular interest in learning the subject. He did not receive formal education in mathematics but had mastered maths in various sections. During his time in Cambridge, he grew close to the great mathematician named Hardy. Together they invented the Hardy-Ramanujan number 1729. He got married at the age of 22 to Janakiammal on 14th July 1904. Several books were written by him based on his theories and formulas. He even received the K. Ranganatha Rao prize for mathematics. On 26th April 1920, he departed at the age of 32.

Below we have provided an essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in English, written in easy and simple words for class 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 school students.

Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan 500 Words in English

Below we have provided extended essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan, suitable for classes 7, 8, 9 and 10 students.

Ramanujan was the maths genius who said that “An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God.” He always had a vision of scrolls of complicated maths unfolding before him. He is referred to as an Indian Mathematician who lived during the British period and who contributed substantially to mathematics analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions. He has been described by many as a simple person with pleasant manners.

Ramanujan was born on 22nd December 1887 into a Tamil Brahmin family in Erode, Madras. His father, Kuppuswamy Srinivasa Iyengar hailed from Thanjavur district and worked as a clerk in a saree shop. His mother, Komalatammal, was a housewife and used to sing at a local temple. They lived in a small traditional home. When Ramanujan was only a year and a half old, his mother was blessed with a son named Sadagopan but unfortunately died less than three months later.

In 1889, Ramanujan contracted smallpox but recovered, unlike many others who faced the death. Then, in 1891 and 1894, his mother again gave birth to two more children, but both of them died before their first birthdays. Since his father was at work most of the day, his mother took care of him, and their bond grew stronger. From his mother he learnt about the tradition and Puranas, to sing religious songs and to attend puja at a temple.

He became well versed with the Brahmin culture and followed particular eating habits. Just before turning ten, he passed his primary education in English, Tamil, geography and arithmetic. His scores were the best in the district. In the same year, he encountered formal mathematics for the first time. At the age of sixteen, he acquired a library copy of A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics from a friend.

He studied the contents of the book thoroughly. The next year, he developed and investigated the Bernoulli numbers and calculate Euler’s constant up to 15 decimals. His peers could hardly understand his nature, and we’re always in awe because of his brilliance. Due to his extraordinary mind, he received a scholarship to study at Government Arts College, Kumbakonam. But he lost this scholarship because of his firm determination towards studying only maths and ignoring other subjects.

Later, too he failed in subjects like English, Sanskrit and physiology. In 1906, he flunked in his Fellow of Arts exam in December. Without a FA degree, he left college and decided to study independently in mathematics through research and referring books. Such a condition caused him extreme poverty, and he reached on the brink of starvation. He married Janakiammal on 14th July 1909 and took a job as a tutor at Presidency College.

Ramanujan met deputy collector V. Ramaswamy Aiyer in 1910, who was the founder of Mathematical society and wished to work in the revenue department. When Ramanujan showed his mathematics book to him, he stated that- “I was struck by the extraordinary mathematical results contained in Ramanujan’s books.” As he advanced further in maths, he even wrote his formal paper on the properties of Bernoulli numbers.

A journal editor M.T. Narayana Iyengar noted that Mr Ramanujan’s methods and presentation was terse and lacked precision and clearness. An ordinary person could hardly follow him. In England, he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts by Research degree. He was also elected to the London Mathematical Society. Ramanujan was the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

In 1994, he died due to Tuberculosis and left the world. In the words of Hardy, Ramanujan had produced groundbreaking theorems and defeated him many times. He had never seen such theories in his life before. In his obituary, it was written that his insight into the subject was terrific and what he did was outstanding and remarkable.

The government of India in 2011, declared his birthday as National Mathematics Day to commemorate his valuable contribution and efforts. The former President even proclaimed that 2012 would be celebrated as National Mathematics Year.

Also Read – Republic Day Speech 2022 in English

Short Essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan in 250 Words

Below we have provided a short essay on Srinivasa Ramanujan, suitable for class 3, 4, 5 & 6 students.

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a well-known Indian Mathematician who was born on 22nd December 1887 during the British rule. He was born in a poor Indian village, Erode belonging to a Tamil family. His father’s name was Kuppuswamy Srinivas Aiyangar who worked as a clerk in a saree shop, and his mother was a religious housewife. They lived in Erode only for a year and then moved to Kumbakonam.

In this small town, Ramanujan attended many primary schools and achieved a distinction in his primary education. At the age of thirteen, he focused his attention on the sum of geometric an arithmetic series and in 1902, he created a method to solve quadratic equations and even explored Euler’s Constant. In the same year, he received a scholarship for his outstanding performance in his studies, and therefore he got admission at Kumbakonam’s Government college.

His passion for mathematics grew more robust, and hence he excelled in maths but failed in other subjects. The failure caused him depression, and he fled to Vizagapatnam without telling his parents. One year later, he returned to study and pass at First Art’s examination but again failed in all and passed in maths. Ramanujan got married to his old distant relative Janaki Ammal.

Furthermore, he published his first paper based on Bernoulli numbers in Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society and received recognition and achievement. His hard work got paid off, and he was appointed as a clerk at Madras Port Trust. At this time, he became famous throughout Madras and caught the attention of C.L.T Griffith who helped Ramanujan. Later, Ramanujan graduated from London and held a degree of Science for research on highly composite numbers.

Customer Reviews