Leonhard Euler: Mathematical Genius in the Enlightenment by Ronald S. Calinger (PDF)

Description

An acclaimed biography of the Enlightenment’s greatest mathematicianThis is the first full-scale biography of Leonhard Euler (1707–83), one of the greatest mathematicians and theoretical physicists of all time. In this comprehensive and authoritative account, Ronald Calinger connects the story of Euler’s eventful life to the astonishing achievements that place him in the company of Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss. Drawing chiefly on Euler’s massive published works and correspondence, which fill more than eighty volumes so far, this biography sets Euler’s work in its multilayered context—personal, intellectual, institutional, political, cultural, religious, and social. It is a story of nearly incessant accomplishment, from Euler’s fundamental contributions to almost every area of pure and applied mathematics—especially calculus, number theory, notation, optics, and celestial, rational, and fluid mechanics—to his advancements in shipbuilding, telescopes, ballistics, cartography, chronology, and music theory.The narrative takes the reader from Euler’s childhood and education in Basel through his first period in St. Petersburg, 1727–41, where he gained a European reputation by solving the Basel problem and systematically developing analytical mechanics. Invited to Berlin by Frederick II, Euler published his famous Introductio in analysin infinitorum, devised continuum mechanics, and proposed a pulse theory of light. Returning to St. Petersburg in 1766, he created the analytical calculus of variations, developed the most precise lunar theory of the time that supported Newton’s dynamics, and published the best-selling Letters to a German Princess—all despite eye problems that ended in near-total blindness. In telling the remarkable story of Euler and how his achievements brought pan-European distinction to the Petersburg and Berlin academies of sciences, the book also demonstrates with new depth and detail the central role of mathematics in the Enlightenment.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is the one stop shop for the life of Leonhard Euler. There is a lot of fine gained detail from life to death.

⭐This book is a thorough history of Euler’s life and the lives and accomplishments of his contemporaries. I found myself often confused about whether the author was talking about Euler or someone else. Overall, it relates an amazing story about a significant mathematician and does it well. Although without much flourish.

⭐Highly recommended. I’m not a mathematician, but LE is my favorite mathematician. This is a comprehensive biography. The only reason I didn’t give the book five stars is because it contains so much material about other people. However, this is a good thing in many ways. I didn’t realize the interconnections among people back then. Their technical achievements were amazing. And LE was more amazing than I thought. He worked on so many things. I would have given the book 4.5 stars if I could have.

⭐A hard book to read. Not for everyone. An excellent account of Euler and his amazing life. An amazing man.

⭐Reading this book I realized how little I had known about Euler before even though he is my favorite mathematician. I really only knew about the greatest hits and did not realize how much Euler contributed to things like map making and the physics of navigation. I also really got a sense of what Euler was like as a person. He was always involved in annoying power politics at the schools he worked at. This book is such an accomplishment, I’m grateful that Calinger took on such an ambitious project. I’m even more humbled by Euler now and wish I knew a bit more math so I could appreciate the bulk of his work.

⭐My interest in Euler’s biography came from my fascination for the time period in which he lived. The Prussian State ( the nucleus of the Second Reich later in history), and Russia, both had the grant vision to emulate the rest of Europe in the arts and sciences. Hiring the likes of Euler, Voltaire, Carl Philip Emanuel Bach , Maupertuis, Diderot or d’Alembert, was for Frederik II of Prussia (a warmonger who played the flute, and gave the theme of Bach’s Musical Offering!) and Catherine the Great, was a priority in the governance of their remote and backwater lands . The royal academies they created during the time of the Enlightenment were a magnet for sometime very highly lucrative positions for the best brains of Europe. Soon, Saint Petersburg and Berlin transformed themselves from awkward , provincial towns, into great metropolis with splendid architecture and flourishing arts and sciences.Calinger’s biography of Euler is a great work of profound depth and scholarly research. For myself though, the numerous and very erudite explanations of Euler’s achievements in the realm of pure mathematics seem to clog-up the narrative to the point of distraction. The book has a hard time compromising in order to please both the commun reader like me, and a mathematician who may not care much about Voltaire and his fights with Frederick II, but has the solution to Fermat’s Last Theorem.

⭐Superb and very readable biography. Strongly recommend!

⭐A good book. Rgds Anders

⭐A fantastic mathematician …,good book !Safely delivered . Thank you. .

⭐History of maths for engineers

⭐This book will definitely be of use to scholars and such, but those who read mathematical biographies for recreation will be disappointed. The book is long and dense, rather encyclopedic, filled with details not just of Euler’s life but of the people and institutions around him. His mathematics and their ramifications are somewhat buried under mountains of turgid detail.For those just seeking a good read, a shorter book with less detail but more insight should be sought out.

⭐This the most complete biography on Euler.You will certainly learn a lot.But not on the mathématical détail of his work ;I would have prefered a little more as I am a teacher of mathématic;the book is big enough 550 pages plus notes.

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