Euler - Icon Profile | Alexandria
Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), a towering figure of the Enlightenment, stands as perhaps the most prolific mathematician in history, whose contributions fundamentally shaped modern mathematics, physics, and engineering. Known simply as "Euler" (pronounced "OY-ler") in academic circles, his name adorns countless theorems, equations, and concepts across multiple scientific disciplines, making him a rare polymath whose influence has only grown with time.
First emerging in the intellectual circles of early 18th century Basel, Switzerland, Euler's mathematical genius manifested remarkably early. At age 13, he entered the University of Basel, studying under Johann Bernoulli, who recognized the young prodigy's exceptional talent. Through personal letters and published works beginning in 1726, Euler began transforming mathematics with an unprecedented combination of rigorous analysis and intuitive insight, all while battling progressive vision loss that eventually left him almost completely blind.
Euler's work spans an astounding range of discoveries, from the famous identity eiπ + 1 = 0, which beautifully connects five fundamental mathematical constants, to practical applications in ship design and optics. His masterworks "Introductio in analysin infinitorum" and "Institutiones calculi differentialis" revolutionized mathematical notation and analysis, introducing many symbols we still use today, including 'e' for the natural logarithm base, 'i' for the imaginary unit, and 'π' for the circle constant. Despite losing sight in his right eye in 1738 and his left in 1766, Euler's productivity actually increased, aided by his remarkable memory and mental calculation abilities.
The Euler legacy continues to unfold in unexpected ways. His solutions to the Seven Bridges of Königsberg problem birthed graph theory, now crucial to social network analysis and computer science. His work on infinite series anticipates modern chaos theory, while his number theory underlies contemporary cryptography. Perhaps most remarkably, mathematicians regularly discover that Euler had quietly anticipated concepts centuries ahead of their "official" discovery, leading to the semi-serious "Euler's First Theorem": any mathematical concept worth discovering was first conceived by Euler. What other mathematical treasures might still lie hidden in his estimated 866 works, waiting to illuminate modern problems?