Abel - Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829) - Norwegian mathematician. Worked on elliptic functions and integrals, algebraic solution of equations and solubility by radicals.
Al-Sabi Thabit ibn Qurra al-Harrani - Gives information on background and contributions to non-euclidean geometry, spherical trigonometry, number theory and the field of statics. Was an important translator of Greek materials, including Euclid's Elements, during the Middle Ages.
Archimedes - Provides a biography and cultural background, as well as details about his discoveries. Page includes photos and a timeline.
Bernoulli, Daniel (1700-1782) - Most important work considered the basic properties of fluid flow, pressure, density and velocity, and gave their fundamental relationship now known as Bernoulli's principle.
Bessel - Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-1846) - Catalogued stars, predicted a planet beyond Uranus as well as the existence of dark stars, investigated Johann Kepler's problem of heliocentricity, and systematized the mathematical functions involved, which now bear his name.
Cauchy - Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789-1857) - (Catholic Encyclopedia) Theory of polyhedra, symmetrical functions, proof of a theorem of Fermat which had baffled mathematicians like Gauss and Euler.
Cauchy, Augustin Louis (1789-1857) - Cauchy contributed to almost every branch of mathematics. He is probably best known for his important contributions to real and complex analysis.
Chebyshev - Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev (1821-1894) - Work on prime numbers included the determination of the number of primes not exceeding a given number, wrote an important book on the theory of congruences, proved that there was always at least one prime between n and 2n for n > 3.
Diophantus of Alexandria (c. 200-284 ) - Best known for his Arithmetica, a work on the theory of numbers, a collection of 130 problems giving numerical solutions of determinate equations.
Dirichlet - Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805-1859) - Proved that in any arithmetic progression with first term coprime to the difference there are infinitely many primes, units in algebraic number theory, ideals, proposed the modern definition of a function.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276-194 BC) - Discusses this early Grecian's discoveries in finding a good approximation of the circumference of the earth, the tilt angle of our planet and a tool for finding prime numbers. Page includes biographical information.
The Eratosthenes Project - Gives information about the techniques and computations used by this ancient mathematician to find the circumference of the earth. Includes sample sketch and reconstructed map of the world.
Galois, Évariste (1811-1832) - Galois theory, a branch of mathematics dealing with the general solution of equations, group theory, method of determining when a general equation could be solved by radicals, solved many long-standing unanswered questions.
Gauss, Johann Carl Friedrich (1777-1855) - One of the all-time greats, Gauss began to show his mathematical brilliance at the early age of seven. He is usually credited with the first proof of The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.
The Grothendieck Circle - Aims to make publicly available materials written by and about Alexandre Grothendieck. Made contributions to algebraic geometry, homological algebra and functional analysis. Page includes list of mathematical,biographical publications and some portrait photos.
History of Mathematics - Online texts of historic mathematical people, including Hamilton, Riemann, Newton, Boole, and Cantor. Also, has biographical backgrounds for key figures during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The History of Mathematics - Collection of original papers of Berkeley, Hamilton, Riemann, Boole, Cantor, and Newton. Includes background and notes. Maintained by David R. Wilkins from Trinity College, Dublin
Kolmogorov, Andrei Nikolaevich (1903-1987) - Worked on trigonometric series, set theory, integration analysis, constructive logic, topology, approximation methods, probability, statistics, random processes, information theory, dynamical systems, algorithms, celestial mechanics, Hilbert's 13th problem, and ballistics. Also, studied and applications of mathematics to problems of biology, geology, linguistics and the crystallization of metals. Born and lived in Russia.
Peirce, Benjamin (1809-1880) - Life and work of 19th century mathematician and philosopher of mathematics; by Ivor Grattan-Guinness and Alison Walsh.
Pell, John (1611-1685) - Worked on algebra and number theory, gave a table of factors of all integers up to 100000 in 1668. Pell's equation is y^2 = ax^2 + 1, where a is a non-square integer.
Plato (427-347 B.C.) - "... the reality which scientific thought is seeking must be expressible in mathematical terms, mathematics being the most precise and definite kind of thinking of which we are capable."
Schmidt, Erhard (1876-1959) - Main research was functional analysis, doctorate was obtained under Hilbert's supervision, main interest was in integral equations and Hilbert space, best remembered for the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalisation process.
Sheynin, Oscar - Freelance researcher specializes in the history of probability, statistics and error theory. Page includes list of publications and outside reviews.
Shortest path to Gauss - This site is the quickest access to information about C.F.Gauss, although reduced to a single page.
- Names are listed alphetically or by date, from 1680 BC to the present.