Ronald S. Calinger

An acclaimed biography of the Enlightenment's greatest mathematicianThis is the first full-scale biography of Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), 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 on Euler's massive published works and correspondence, 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 in his time―especially calculus, mechanics, and optics―to his advances in shipbuilding, telescopes, acoustics, ballistics, cartography, chronology, and music theory.