Leonhard Euler: Life, Work and Legacy

Robert E. Bradley and C. Edward Sandifer (Eds.)9780444527288, 0444527281

The year 2007 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of one of the Enlightenment’s most important mathematicians and scientists, Leonhard Euler. This volume is a collection of 24 essays by some of the world’s best Eulerian scholars from seven different countries about Euler, his life and his work. Some of the essays are historical, including much previously unknown information about Euler’s life, his activities in the St. Petersburg Academy, the influence of the Russian Princess Dashkova, and Euler’s philosophy. Others describe his influence on the subsequent growth of European mathematics and physics in the 19th century. Still others give technical details of Euler’s innovations in probability, number theory, geometry, analysis, astronomy, mechanics and other fields of mathematics and science.- Over 20 essays by some of the best historians of mathematics and science, including Ronald Calinger, Peter Hoffmann, Curtis Wilson, Kim Plofker, Victor Katz, Ruediger Thiele, David Richeson, Robin Wilson, Ivor Grattan-Guinness and Karin Reich- New details of Euler’s life in two essays, one by Ronald Calinger and one he co-authored with Elena Polyakhova- New information on Euler’s work in differential geometry, series, mechanics, and other important topics including his influence in the early 19th century

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Table of contents :
Content:
Foreword
Pages v-vi
Robert E. Bradley, C. Edward Sandifer

Introduction Original Research Article
Pages 1-4
C. Edward Sandifer, Robert E. Bradley

Leonhard Euler: Life and thought Original Research Article
Pages 5-60
Ronald S. Calinger

Leonhard Euler and Russia Original Research Article
Pages 61-73
Peter Hoffmann

Princess dashkova, euler, and the russian academy of sciences Original Research Article
Pages 75-95
Ronald S. Calinger, Elena N. Polyakhova

Leonhard Euler and philosophy Original Research Article
Pages 97-108
Wolfgang Breidert

Images of Euler Original Research Article
Pages 109-120
Florence Fasanelli

Euler and applications of analytical mathematics to astronomy Original Research Article
Pages 121-145
Curtis Wilson

Euler and indian astronomy Original Research Article
Pages 147-166
Kim Plofker

Euler and kinematics Original Research Article
Pages 167-194
Teun Koetsier

Euler on rigid bodies Original Research Article
Pages 195-211
Stacy G. Langton

Euler’s Analysis Textbooks Original Research Article
Pages 213-233
Victor J. Katz

Euler and the Calculus of Variations Original Research Article
Pages 235-254
Rüdiger Thiele

Euler, D’Alembert and the Logarithm Function Original Research Article
Pages 255-277
Robert E. Bradley

Some Facets of Euler’s Work on Series Original Research Article
Pages 279-302
C. Edward Sandifer

The Geometry of Leonhard Euler Original Research Article
Pages 303-321
Homer S. White

Cyclotomy: From Euler through Vandermonde to Gauss Original Research Article
Pages 323-362
Olaf Neumann

Euler and number theory: A study in mathematical invention Original Research Article
Pages 363-383
Jeff Suzuki

Euler and lotteries Original Research Article
Pages 385-394
D.R. Bellhouse

Euler’s science of combinations Original Research Article
Pages 395-408
Brian Hopkins, Robin Wilson

The truth about königsberg Original Research Article
Pages 409-420
Brian Hopkins, Robin Wilson

The polyhedral formula Original Research Article
Pages 421-439
David Richeson

On the recognition of euler among the french, 1790-1830 Original Research Article
Pages 441-458
I. Grattan-Guinness

Euler’s influence on the birth of vector mechanics Original Research Article
Pages 459-477
Sandro Caparrini

Euler’s contribution to differential geometry and its reception Original Research Article
Pages 479-502
Karin Reich

Euler’s mechanics as a foundation of quantum mechanics Original Research Article
Pages 503-525
Dieter Suisky

Index
Pages 527-534