Euler was the founding father of the calculus of variations and of graph theory. It is not possible even to outline his accomplishments within the word limit of this review. In the pantheon of great mathematicians, Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) is one of the supreme deities. 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. Petersburg in 1766, he created the analytical calculus of variations, developed the most precise lunar theory of the time that supported Newtons dynamics, and published the best-selling Letters to a German Princessall despite eye problems that ended in near-total blindness. Invited to Berlin by Frederick II, Euler published his famous Introductio in analysin infinitorum, devised continuum mechanics, and proposed a pulse theory of light. Petersburg, 172741, where he gained a European reputation by solving the Basel problem and systematically developing analytical mechanics. The narrative takes the reader from Eulers childhood and education in Basel through his first period in St. It is a story of nearly incessant accomplishment, from Eulers fundamental contributions to almost every area of pure and applied mathematicsespecially calculus, number theory, notation, optics, and celestial, rational, and fluid mechanicsto his advancements in shipbuilding, telescopes, ballistics, cartography, chronology, and music theory. Drawing chiefly on Eulers massive published works and correspondence, which fill more than eighty volumes so far, this biography sets Eulers work in its multilayered contextpersonal, intellectual, institutional, political, cultural, religious, and social. In this comprehensive and authoritative account, Ronald Calinger connects the story of Eulers eventful life to the astonishing achievements that place him in the company of Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss. This is the first full-scale biography of Leonhard Euler (170783), one of the greatest mathematicians and theoretical physicists of all time.
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