Leonhard Euler: Mathematical Genius in the Enlightenment

Ronald S. Calinger

Published by Princeton University Press 2016

Leonhard Euler

Mathematical Genius in the Enlightenment

Ronald S. Calinger

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400866632

Overview
Contents

About this book

This 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.

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Author information

Ronald S. Calinger is professor emeritus of history at the Catholic University of America and the founding chancellor of the Euler Society. His books include A Contextual History of Mathematics, Vita Mathematica, and Classics of Mathematics.

Reviews

"Comprehensive and thorough, this study of the life, work, and times of Leonhard Euler is written in an accessible style and strikes the right balance between his technical accomplishments and historical context. This will be a standard, foundational work on which all future scholarship on Euler, eighteenth-century mathematics and science, and indeed Enlightenment intellectual life will rest."—Kathryn M. Olesko, Georgetown University

Leonhard Euler, written by historian of mathematics Ronald Calinger, is perhaps the first biography that attempts to offer a panoramic view of this immense body of work. . . . This impressively researched tome will be of great value to anyone with a serious interest in the history of mathematics and the Enlightenment.---David Castelvecchi, Nature

This biography gives a complete picture of the person Euler and his scientific work. For the interested reader a must.

The author deserves praise for tackling such a serious project with huge amounts of detailed and complex material. . . . An excellent reference resource on all matters related to Euler’s life and work.---Ciarán Mac an Bhaird, London Mathematical Society Newsletter

The book is so rich in information that it makes it the best reference work on Euler that is currently available. . . . This book will be a standard for many years to come.---Adhemar Bultheel, European Mathematical Society

The text is clear; the book is a pleasure to read and will be easy to use. It weaves together Euler's personal life, his education, and his activities in the intellectual life of the eighteenth century, noting the intrusion of events beyond his control. . . . Almost everything is included, from Euler’s simplest work and elementary teaching to his most insightful and influential papers and books. At every stage, we get a succinct account of what Euler did and why it mattered. . . . The book should be read by every historian of modern science, and it will form the basis for a new generation of Euler scholarship.---Jeremy Gray, Isis

[A]n impressive work of scientific biography. . . . A fascinating portrait of Euler, his work and the world around him.

This work befits Leonhard Euler, one of the greatest mathematicians ever, and fills in details that raise his stature even further. Calinger is respected for his texts that explore the history of mathematics. This focused effort is his best! Calinger successfully embeds Euler's mathematical and physics results in a rich context--cultural, political, religious, and intellectual--while providing great insight into Euler as a person. . . . Read this book about Euler and be enlightened!

"This is the first real biography of Leonhard Euler, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it is the most important book about Euler to appear in any western European language in the past century. The scholarship is absolutely first rate and is based largely on original sources, a monumental feat. Many of the details are new, but so is the grand synthesis that puts them together in one narrative. I learned something new from almost every page."—Dominic Klyve, Central Washington University

The present monograph is an important contribution on Euler's life and on his achievements in various areas of human knowledge, being of interest to all people interested in the development of science in historical perspective.---S. Cobza¸, Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Methematica

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016

"This will be the authoritative work on Euler's life. Embodying a great deal of research and information, the book provides a complete biography, connecting the year-by-year circumstances of Euler's life with his scientific work. One of the book's strengths is its account of the personal, institutional, and political milieu that formed the context of Euler's career."—Craig Fraser, University of Toronto

An excellent new biography.---Mark Ronan, Standpoint

Ronald Calinger's impressively detailed biography memorably portrays an extraordinarily able scientist rather than a hero of the Enlightenment as it is conventionally conceived.---Ulinka Rublack, Times Literary Supplement

Written in a masterly manner.---Eberhard Knobloch, Zentralblatt MATH

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General Interest

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xv
Author’s Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xvii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. The Swiss Years: 1707 to April 1727 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	4
2. “Into the Paradise of Scholars”: April 1727 to 1730 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
3. Departures, and Euler in Love: 1730 to 1734 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
4. Reaching the “Inmost Heart of Mathematics”: 1734 to 1740 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
5. Life Becomes Rather Dangerous: 1740 to August 1741 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
6. A Call to Berlin: August 1741 to 1744 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
7. “The Happiest Man in the World”: 1744 to 1746 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
8. The Apogee Years, I: 1746 to 1748 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
9. The Apogee Years, II: 1748 to 1750 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
10. The Apogee Years, III: 1750 to 1753 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	318
11. Increasing Precision and Generalization in the Mathematical Sciences: 1753 to 1756 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	368
12. War and Estrangement, 1756 to July 1766 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	404
13. Return to Saint Petersburg: Academy Reform and Great Productivity, July 1766 to 1773 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	451
14. Vigorous Autumnal Years: 1773 to 1782 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	495
15. Toward “a More Perfect State of Dreaming”: 1782 to October 1783 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	526
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	537
General Bibliography of Works Consulted Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	571
Register of Principal Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	625
General Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	657

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