The Story of Mathematics LIST OF IMPORTANT MATHEMATICIANS

Prehistoric Mathematics This is a chronological list of some of the most important mathematicians in history and their major
Sumerian/Babylonian achievments, as well as some very early achievements in mathematics for which individual contributions can
Mathematics not be acknowledged.
Egyptian Mathematics
Greek Mathematics Where the mathematicians have individual pages in this website, these pages are linked; otherwise more
Hellenistic Mathematics information can usually be obtained from the general page relating to the particular period in history, or from
Roman Mathematics the list of sources used. A more detailed and comprehensive mathematical chronology can be found at
Mayan Mathematics http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Chronology/full.html.
Chinese Mathematics
Indian Mathematics Date Name Nationality   Major Achievements
Islamic Mathematics 35000 BC African First notched tally bones
Medieval European Mathematics 3100 BC Sumerian Earliest documented counting and measuring system
16th Century Mathematics
17th Century Mathematics 2700 BC Egyptian Earliest fully-developed base 10 number system in
18th Century Mathematics use
19th Century Mathematics 2600 BC Sumerian Multiplication tables, geometrical exercises and
20th Century Mathematics division problems
2000-1800 BC Egyptian Earliest papyri showing numeration system and basic
 
arithmetic
List of Important Mathematicians
  1800-1600 BC Babylonian Clay tablets dealing with fractions, algebra and
Glossary of Mathematical Terms equations
  1650 BC Egyptian Rhind Papyrus (instruction manual in arithmetic,
Sources geometry, unit fractions, etc)
 
1200 BC Chinese First decimal numeration system with place value
Contact
concept
 
1200-900 BC Indian Early Vedic mantras invoke powers of ten from a
hundred all the way up to a trillion
800-400 BC Indian “Sulba Sutra” lists several Pythagorean triples and
simplified Pythagorean theorem for the sides of a
square and a rectangle, quite accurate approximation
to √2
650 BC Chinese Lo Shu order three (3 x 3) “magic square” in which
each row, column and diagonal sums to 15
624-546 BC Thales Greek Early developments in geometry, including work on
similar and right triangles
570-495 BC Pythagoras Greek Expansion of geometry, rigorous approach building
from first principles, square and triangular numbers,
Pythagoras’ theorem
500 BC Hippasus Greek Discovered potential existence of irrational numbers
while trying to calculate the value of √2
490-430 BC Zeno of Elea Greek Describes a series of paradoxes concerning infinity
and infinitesimals
470-410 BC Hippocrates of Greek First systematic compilation of geometrical
Chios knowledge, Lune of Hippocrates
460-370 BC Democritus Greek Developments in geometry and fractions, volume of a
cone
428-348 BC Plato Greek Platonic solids, statement of the Three Classical
Problems, influential teacher and popularizer of
mathematics, insistence on rigorous proof and logical
methods
410-355 BC Eudoxus of Cnidus Greek Method for rigorously proving statements about
areas and volumes by successive approximations
384-322 BC Aristotle Greek Development and standardization of logic (although
not then considered part of mathematics) and
deductive reasoning
300 BC Euclid Greek Definitive statement of classical (Euclidean)
geometry, use of axioms and postulates, many
formulas, proofs and theorems including Euclid’s
Theorem on infinitude of primes
287-212 BC Archimedes Greek Formulas for areas of regular shapes, “method of
 exhaustion” for approximating areas and value of π,
comparison of infinities
276-195 BC Eratosthenes Greek “Sieve of Eratosthenes” method for identifying prime
numbers
262-190 BC Apollonius of Perga Greek Work on geometry, especially on cones and conic
sections (ellipse, parabola, hyperbola)
200 BC Chinese “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art”, including
guide to how to solve equations using sophisticated
matrix-based methods
190-120 BC Hipparchus Greek Develop first detailed trigonometry tables
36 BC Mayan Pre-classic Mayans developed the concept of zero by
at least this time
10-70 AD Heron (or Hero) of Greek Heron’s Formula for finding the area of a triangle
Alexandria from its side lengths, Heron’s Method for iteratively
computing a square root
90-168 AD Ptolemy Greek/Egyptian    Develop even more detailed trigonometry tables
200 AD Sun Tzu Chinese First definitive statement of Chinese Remainder
Theorem
200 AD Indian Refined and perfected decimal place value number
system
200-284 AD Diophantus Greek Diophantine Analysis of complex algebraic problems,
to find rational solutions to equations with several
unknowns
220-280 AD Liu Hui Chinese Solved linear equations using a matrices (similar to
Gaussian elimination), leaving roots unevaluated,
calculated value of π correct to five decimal places,
early forms of integral and differential calculus
400 AD Indian “Surya Siddhanta” contains roots of modern
trigonometry, including first real use of sines, cosines,
inverse sines, tangents and secants
476-550 AD Aryabhata Indian Definitions of trigonometric functions, complete and
accurate sine and versine tables, solutions to
simultaneous quadratic equations, accurate
approximation for π (and recognition that π is an
irrational number)
598-668 AD Brahmagupta Indian Basic mathematical rules for dealing with zero (+, -
and x), negative numbers, negative roots of quadratic
equations, solution of quadratic equations with two
unknowns
600-680 AD Bhaskara I Indian First to write numbers in Hindu-Arabic decimal
system with a circle for zero, remarkably accurate
approximation of the sine function
780-850 AD Muhammad Al- Persian Advocacy of the Hindu numerals 1 - 9 and 0 in Islamic
Khwarizmi world, foundations of modern algebra, including
algebraic methods of “reduction” and “balancing”,
solution of polynomial equations up to second degree
908-946 AD Ibrahim ibn Sinan Arabic Continued Archimedes' investigations of areas and
volumes, tangents to a circle
953-1029 AD Muhammad Al- Persian First use of proof by mathematical induction,
Karaji including to prove the binomial theorem
966-1059 AD Ibn al-Haytham Persian/Arabic Derived a formula for the sum of fourth powers using
(Alhazen) a readily generalizable method, “Alhazen's problem”,
established beginnings of link between algebra and
geometry
1048-1131 Omar Khayyam Persian Generalized Indian methods for extracting square and
cube roots to include fourth, fifth and higher roots,
noted existence of different sorts of cubic equations
1114-1185 Bhaskara II Indian Established that dividing by zero yields infinity, found
solutions to quadratic, cubic and quartic equations
(including negative and irrational solutions) and to
second order Diophantine equations, introduced
some preliminary concepts of calculus
1170-1250 Leonardo of Pisa Italian Fibonacci Sequence of numbers, advocacy of the use
(Fibonacci) of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in Europe,
Fibonacci's identity (product of two sums of two
squares is itself a sum of two squares)
1201-1274 Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Persian Developed field of spherical trigonometry, formulated
law of sines for plane triangles
1202-1261 Qin Jiushao Chinese Solutions to quadratic, cubic and higher power
equations using a method of repeated
approximations
1238-1298 Yang Hui Chinese Culmination of Chinese “magic” squares, circles and
triangles, Yang Hui’s Triangle (earlier version of
Pascal’s Triangle of binomial co-efficients)
1267-1319 Kamal al-Din al- Persian Applied theory of conic sections to solve optical
Farisi problems, explored amicable numbers, factorization
and combinatorial methods
1350-1425 Madhava Indian Use of infinite series of fractions to give an exact
 formula for π, sine formula and other trigonometric
functions, important step towards development of
calculus
1323-1382 Nicole Oresme French System of rectangular coordinates, such as for a
time-speed-distance graph, first to use fractional
exponents, also worked on infinite series
1446-1517 Luca Pacioli Italian Influential book on arithmetic, geometry and book-
keeping, also introduced standard symbols for plus
and minus
1499-1557 Niccolò Fontana Italian Formula for solving all types of cubic equations,
Tartaglia involving first real use of complex numbers
(combinations of real and imaginary numbers),
Tartaglia’s Triangle (earlier version of Pascal’s
Triangle)
1501-1576 Gerolamo Cardano Italian Published solution of cubic and quartic equations (by
Tartaglia and Ferrari), acknowledged existence of
imaginary numbers (based on √-1)
1522-1565 Lodovico Ferrari Italian Devised formula for solution of quartic equations
1550-1617 John Napier British Invention of natural logarithms, popularized the use
of the decimal point, Napier’s Bones tool for lattice
multiplication
1588-1648 Marin Mersenne French Clearing house for mathematical thought during 17th
Century, Mersenne primes (prime numbers that are
one less than a power of 2)
1591-1661 Girard Desargues French Early development of projective geometry and “point
at infinity”, perspective theorem
1596-1650 René Descartes French Development of Cartesian coordinates and analytic
geometry (synthesis of geometry and algebra), also
credited with the first use of superscripts for powers
or exponents
1598-1647 Bonaventura Italian “Method of indivisibles” paved way for the later
Cavalieri development of infinitesimal calculus
1601-1665 Pierre de Fermat French Discovered many new numbers patterns and
theorems (including Little Theorem, Two-Square
Thereom and Last Theorem), greatly extending
knowlege of number theory, also contributed to
probability theory
1616-1703 John Wallis British Contributed towards development of calculus,
originated idea of number line, introduced symbol ∞
for infinity, developed standard notation for powers
1623-1662 Blaise Pascal French Pioneer (with Fermat) of probability theory, Pascal’s
Triangle of binomial coefficients
1643-1727 Isaac Newton British Development of infinitesimal calculus (differentiation
and integration), laid ground work for almost all of
classical mechanics, generalized binomial theorem,
infinite power series
1646-1716 Gottfried Leibniz German Independently developed infinitesimal calculus (his
calculus notation is still used), also practical
calculating machine using binary system (forerunner
of the computer), solved linear equations using a
matrix
1654-1705 Jacob Bernoulli Swiss Helped to consolidate infinitesimal calculus,
developed a technique for solving separable
differential equations, added a theory of permutations
and combinations to probability theory, Bernoulli
Numbers sequence, transcendental curves
1667-1748 Johann Bernoulli Swiss Further developed infinitesimal calculus, including the
“calculus of variation”, functions for curve of fastest
descent (brachistochrone) and catenary curve
1667-1754 Abraham de Moivre French De Moivre's formula, development of analytic
geometry, first statement of the formula for the
normal distribution curve, probability theory
1690-1764 Christian Goldbach German Goldbach Conjecture, Goldbach-Euler Theorem on
perfect powers
1707-1783 Leonhard Euler Swiss Made important contributions in almost all fields and
found unexpected links between different fields,
proved numerous theorems, pioneered new methods,
standardized mathematical notation and wrote many
influential textbooks
1728-1777 Johann Lambert Swiss Rigorous proof that π is irrational, introduced
hyperbolic functions into trigonometry, made
conjectures on non-Euclidean space and hyperbolic
triangles
1736-1813 Joseph Louis Italian/French Comprehensive treatment of classical and celestial
Lagrange mechanics, calculus of variations, Lagrange’s
theorem of finite groups, four-square theorem, mean
value theorem
1746-1818 Gaspard Monge French Inventor of descriptive geometry, orthographic
projection
1749-1827 Pierre-Simon French Celestial mechanics translated geometric study of
Laplace classical mechanics to one based on calculus,
Bayesian interpretation of probability, belief in
scientific determinism
1752-1833 Adrien-Marie French Abstract algebra, mathematical analysis, least
Legendre squares method for curve-fitting and linear
regression, quadratic reciprocity law, prime number
theorem, elliptic functions
1768-1830 Joseph Fourier French Studied periodic functions and infinite sums in which
the terms are trigonometric functions (Fourier series)
1777-1825 Carl Friedrich Gauss German Pattern in occurrence of prime numbers, construction
of heptadecagon, Fundamental Theorem of Algebra,
exposition of complex numbers, least squares
approximation method, Gaussian distribution,
Gaussian function, Gaussian error curve, non-
Euclidean geometry, Gaussian curvature
1789-1857 Augustin-Louis French Early pioneer of mathematical analysis, reformulated
Cauchy and proved theorems of calculus in a rigorous
manner, Cauchy's theorem (a fundamental theorem of
group theory)
1790-1868 August Ferdinand German Möbius strip (a two-dimensional surface with only
Möbius one side), Möbius configuration, Möbius
transformations, Möbius transform (number theory),
Möbius function, Möbius inversion formula
1791-1858 George Peacock British Inventor of symbolic algebra (early attempt to place
algebra on a strictly logical basis)
1791-1871 Charles Babbage British Designed a "difference engine" that could
automatically perform computations based on
instructions stored on cards or tape, forerunner of
programmable computer.
1792-1856 Nikolai Russian Developed theory of hyperbolic geometry and curved
Lobachevsky spaces independendly of Bolyai
1802-1829 Niels Henrik Abel Norwegian Proved impossibility of solving quintic equations,
group theory, abelian groups, abelian categories,
abelian variety
1802-1860 János Bolyai Hungarian Explored hyperbolic geometry and curved spaces
independently of Lobachevsky
1804-1851 Carl Jacobi German Important contributions to analysis, theory of periodic
and elliptic functions, determinants and matrices
1805-1865 William Hamilton Irish Theory of quaternions (first example of a non-
commutative algebra)
1811-1832 Évariste Galois French Proved that there is no general algebraic method for
solving polynomial equations of degree greater than
four, laid groundwork for abstract algebra, Galois
theory, group theory, ring theory, etc
1815-1864 George Boole British Devised Boolean algebra (using operators AND, OR
and NOT), starting point of modern mathematical
logic, led to the development of computer science
1815-1897 Karl Weierstrass German Discovered a continuous function with no derivative,
advancements in calculus of variations, reformulated
calculus in a more rigorous fashion, pioneer in
development of mathematical analysis
1821-1895 Arthur Cayley British Pioneer of modern group theory, matrix algebra,
theory of higher singularities, theory of invariants,
higher dimensional geometry, extended Hamilton's
quaternions to create octonions
1826-1866 Bernhard Riemann German Non-Euclidean elliptic geometry, Riemann surfaces,
Riemannian geometry (differential geometry in
multiple dimensions), complex manifold theory, zeta
function, Riemann Hypothesis
1831-1916 Richard Dedekind German Defined some important concepts of set theory such
as similar sets and infinite sets, proposed Dedekind
cut (now a standard definition of the real numbers)
1834-1923 John Venn British Introduced Venn diagrams into set theory (now a
ubiquitous tool in probability, logic and statistics)
1842-1899 Marius Sophus Lie Norwegian Applied algebra to geometric theory of differential
equations, continuous symmetry, Lie groups of
transformations
1845-1918 Georg Cantor German Creator of set theory, rigorous treatment of the notion
of infinity and transfinite numbers, Cantor's theorem
(which implies the existence of an “infinity of
infinities”)
1848-1925 Gottlob Frege German One of the founders of modern logic, first rigorous
treatment of the ideas of functions and variables in
logic, major contributor to study of the foundations of
mathematics
1849-1925 Felix Klein German Klein bottle (a one-sided closed surface in four-
dimensional space), Erlangen Program to classify
geometries by their underlying symmetry groups,
 work on group theory and function theory
1854-1912 Henri Poincaré French Partial solution to “three body problem”, foundations
of modern chaos theory, extended theory of
mathematical topology, Poincaré conjecture
1858-1932 Giuseppe Peano Italian Peano axioms for natural numbers, developer of
mathematical logic and set theory notation,
contributed to modern method of mathematical
induction
1861-1947 Alfred North British Co-wrote “Principia Mathematica” (attempt to ground
Whitehead mathematics on logic)
1862-1943 David Hilbert German 23 “Hilbert problems”, finiteness theorem,
“Entscheidungsproblem“ (decision problem), Hilbert
space, developed modern axiomatic approach to
mathematics, formalism
1864-1909 Hermann German Geometry of numbers (geometrical method in multi-
Minkowski dimensional space for solving number theory
problems), Minkowski space-time
1872-1970 Bertrand Russell British Russell’s paradox, co-wrote “Principia Mathematica”
(attempt to ground mathematics on logic), theory of
types
1877-1947 G.H. Hardy British Progress toward solving Riemann hypothesis (proved
infinitely many zeroes on the critical line), encouraged
new tradition of pure mathematics in Britain, taxicab
numbers
1878-1929 Pierre Fatou French Pioneer in field of complex analytic dynamics,
investigated iterative and recursive processes
1881-1966 L.E.J. Brouwer Dutch Proved several theorems marking breakthroughs in
topology (including fixed point theorem and
topological invariance of dimension)
1887-1920 Srinivasa Indian Proved over 3,000 theorems, identities and equations,
Ramanujan including on highly composite numbers, partition
function and its asymptotics, and mock theta
functions
1893-1978 Gaston Julia French Developed complex dynamics, Julia set formula
1903-1957 John von Neumann Hungarian/ Pioneer of game theory, design model for modern
American computer architecture, work in quantum and nuclear
physics
1906-1978 Kurt Gödel Austria Incompleteness theorems (there can be solutions to
mathematical problems which are true but which can
never be proved), Gödel numbering, logic and set
theory
1906-1998 André Weil French Theorems allowed connections between algebraic
geometry and number theory, Weil conjectures
(partial proof of Riemann hypothesis for local zeta
functions), founding member of influential Bourbaki
group
1912-1954 Alan Turing British Breaking of the German enigma code, Turing machine
(logical forerunner of computer), Turing test of
artificial intelligence
1913-1996 Paul Erdös Hungarian Set and solved many problems in combinatorics,
graph theory, number theory, classical analysis,
approximation theory, set theory and probability
theory
1917-2008 Edward Lorenz American Pioneer in modern chaos theory, Lorenz attractor,
fractals, Lorenz oscillator, coined term “butterfly
effect”
1919-1985 Julia Robinson American Work on decision problems and Hilbert's tenth
problem, Robinson hypothesis
1924-2010 Benoît Mandelbrot French Mandelbrot set fractal, computer plottings of
Mandelbrot and Julia sets
1928- Alexander French Mathematical structuralist, revolutionary advances in
Grothendieck algebraic geometry, theory of schemes, contributions
to algebraic topology, number theory, category theory,
etc
1928- John Nash American Work in game theory, differential geometry and partial
differential equations, provided insight into complex
systems in daily life such as economics, computing
and military
1934-2007 Paul Cohen American Proved that continuum hypothesis could be both true
and not true (i.e. independent from Zermelo-Fraenkel
set theory)
1937- John Horton British Important contributions to game theory, group theory,
Conway number theory, geometry and (especially) recreational
mathematics, notably with the invention of the
cellular automaton called the "Game of Life"
1947- Yuri Matiyasevich Russian Final proof that Hilbert’s tenth problem is impossible
(there is no general method for determining whether
Diophantine equations have a solution)
1953- Andrew Wiles British Finally proved Fermat’s Last Theorem for all numbers
 (by proving the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture for
semistable elliptic curves)
1966- Grigori Perelman Russian Finally proved Poincaré Conjecture (by proving
Thurston's geometrization conjecture), contributions
to Riemannian geometry and geometric topology
 
 
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