CONTENT

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1. INTRODUCTION 2

2. GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ 3

3. HIPPARCHUS 5

4. HYPATIA 7

5. AL – KHWARIZMI 9

6. EUCLID 11

7. CONCLUSION 13

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 14

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 INTRODUCTION

Mathematicians are people who specialize in the study of mathematics,

the manipulation of numbers, variables, and abstract concepts in
equations and theorems. They can work on a variety of topics, from the
history of math to theoretical mathematics, and they work in many
industries, including computer science and engineering.

The study of mathematics is ancient. Humans have been working with

numbers for both mundane and theoretical tasks for thousands of years,
and they have also used math to learn more about the world and the
universe. Mathematicians were responsible for calculating the data
which allowed people to understand how the seasons worked, how to
build huge structures, and how to perform a variety of other tasks. They
also contributed immensely to the advancement of the sciences in many
cultures.

Some mathematicians specialize in applied or practical mathematics,

which involves the application of mathematics to real world issues.
Applied mathematicians work in government, industry, business, and
engineering to tackle real-world challenges. Theoretical mathematicians
create new principles and expand fundamental mathematical knowledge.

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 GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ

Gottfried Leibniz was born on 1st July 1646 in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany to
influential parents. He died in Hanover on November 14, 1716, when he was 70
years old. Leibniz was a childhood prodigy. He became fluent in Latin and
studied works of Greeks scholars when he was only twelve. He entered the
University of Leipzig when he was fourteen, where he took philosophy,
mathematics and law.
After graduation, he applied for a doctorate in law, but was refused due to his
young age. Leibniz chose to present his thesis to the University of Altdorf, where
professors were so impressed that they immediately awarded him the degree of
Doctor of Laws and gave him a professorship.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (also known as von Leibniz) was a prominent German
mathematician, philosopher, physicist and statesman. Noted for his independent
invention of the differential and integral calculus.

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Contribution to Mathematics:

• Gottfried Leibniz was a great polymath who knew almost everything

that could be known at the time about any subject or intellectual
enterprise. He made important contributions to
philosophy, engineering, physics, law, politics, philology and theology.
• Probably his greatest achievement was the discovery of a new
mathematical method called calculus. Scientists use to deal with
quantities that are constantly varying. Newton had devised a similar
method for his work on gravity. Therefore, there was a harsh debate
about who had been first.
• Newton began working on his version in 1665, but Leibniz published his
results in 1684, almost three years before Newton. However, the
consensus is that they discovered the method simultaneously.
• Leibniz also discovered the binary number system and invented the first
calculating machine that could add, subtract, multiply and divide. When it
came to metaphysics, he formulated the famous theory of monads which
explained the relation between soul and the body. Leibniz is often known as
the founder of symbolic logic as he developed the universal characteristic, a
symbolic language in which any item of information can be represented in a
natural and systematic way.

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 HIPPARCHUS

Hipparchus was born around 190 B.C. The birthplace is suggested to be

Nicaea, and he did appear to start work as a trained astronomer in his
30s. Hipparchus passed away around 120 B.C. It is believed that the
final location where he lived was the Greek Isle of Rhodes.
Interestingly, there is a chord table that Hipparchus describes in his
writings that has now been lost. The chord table was supposed to have
helped formulate the length of chords on an angle. The purpose of chord:
Hipparchus’ chord chart was centered on a circular object that was split
into 360°, with each degree subdivided into 60 min. Toomer was able to
extract this information by using Hipparchus’ theoretical calculation.
Hipparchus computed his chord function at 7.5° intervals and then
established the magnitude at transformation using the logistic regression
approach, according to Toomer. According to Toomer, the table may be
computed using some simple equations that Hipparchus may have
understood.

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Contribution to Mathematics:

• Trigonometry: To compute the orbits of the sun and the moon,

Hipparchus had to be very innovative and create the trigonometric
table. Trigonometry is an area of mathematics that is faced in the
area of angles. Hipparchus made an incredible number of
discoveries in the realm of trigonometry and the understanding of
triangles increased dramatically. This was his most important
finding since it enabled fellow Greek scientists to use their
geometric technique for solving any triangular and making
celestial forecasts. To compute this figure, he circumscribed
triangles into a circular pattern so that each corner became chords.
He utilised several plane trigonometric equations that he just
developed independently or obtained from those other resources to
produce this list. He is perhaps the first mathematician to record
the exact rising or setting times of the astrological or Zodiac signs.
• Combinatorics (Permutations and Combinations): It is an
extremely significant field of study. It is concerned with the many
arrangements that can be made. Combinatorics may be found in
various domains, including computer engineering, statistics,
probabilities, and arithmetic geometry. Hipparchus is credited with
coining the term “combinatorics.”
• The Year’s Length: The time it would take the Globe to finish one
revolution around the Sun is measured in years. It’s crucial to keep
track of the length of the tropical year when making a calendar. A
tropical year is a period between both the solstices and the winter
solstice. Hipparchus noticed it and calculated the most precise
outcome of all periods, which is only 6 extra minutes than the real-
time. No one had ever been able to get close to this amount before
his.

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 HYPATIA

Hypatia was born around 355 CE in Alexandria, then part of the

Egyptian province of the Eastern Roman Empire and an intellectual
center. Hypatia was the daughter of mathematician and astronomer,
Theon of Alexandria. She was the only child of her parents, and Theon
educated her himself.
As Hypatia reached her adulthood, she had surpassed her father in both
mathematics and philosophy. She became a renowned scholar in the city
and took her father's place as the head of Platonic school, a modern
university. Hypatia was a great teacher and counselor. She was often
described as a charismatic teacher. While none of her writings survive,
her contemporaries and her students' account of her work and life
sketches the qualities that made her a renowned scholar, beloved as a
teacher, and ultimately led to her downfall.
She also became an icon for feminist movements in the twentieth
century. Hypatia taught students from all over the Mediterranean. She
also taught them the writings of Plato and Aristotle. She spoke amongst
the assembly of men, which shows her extraordinary dignity and virtue.
She was a prominent mathematician, philosopher, and advisor to the
city's leaders. She is the earliest female mathematician whose life and

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work reasonably detailed knowledge exists.

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Hypatia was a Neoplatonist, believing that mathematics has a spiritual
aspect, divided among the four branches of arithmetic, geometry,
astronomy, and music. She thought that numbers are the sacred language
of the universe.

Contribution to mathematics:

• Hypatia refined several scientific instruments, wrote math

textbooks, and developed a more efficient long division method.
• Hypatia wrote a piece on Diophantus's thirteen volume
Arithmetica, which contains 100 mathematical problems, whose
solutions are proposed using algebra.
• She also wrote an article on conic sections.
• Hypatia also constructed an Astrolabe, which is a device used to
calculate the date and time according to the positions of stars and
planets.
• She also built a Hydrometer, a tool used to determine densities of
fluids.
• It is not evident that she took part in any original mathematical
research. However, she assisted her father in producing a new
version of Euclid’s Elements.

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 AL – KHWARIZMI

Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, nicknamed Al-Khwarizmi,

belongs to a Persian family from Khorasan – now located in Uzbekistan.
The exact date of his birth is not clear, but it is normally considered to
be 780 CE. There is very little information about his early life, but he
was one of the brilliant students in Baghdad, Iraq.
Al-Khwarizmi is one of the most famous mathematicians, astronomers,
and geologists at the time of the Golden Era of Muslims. He is also the
inventor of many mathematical methods and a branch of math, called
Algebra. Furthermore, he was the first to use decimals to express
fractions. He made most of his discoveries and scientific contributions in
the period of 813 to 833 CE. He was also an excellent translator and has
translated so many books into the Arabic language from other languages,
such as Sanskrit and Greek. He died at the age of 70 years in 850 CE.
The most famous work of Al-Khwarizmi was the development of
algebra, a branch of math that deals with symbols and the operations
between them. Algebra is a very important field in mathematics and
forms the foundation of modern science and technology.

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Contribution to mathematics:

• Algorithms: Algorithm is an Arabic word that is now used to

define a process in which certain steps are performed for the
solution of a problem; especially in computers. The concept of
algorithms was first given by Al-Khwarizmi to solve certain
problems in defined steps of calculations. Today, computers
widely use algorithms to solve a wide variety of problems and in
decision-making. Due to the introduction of the concept of
algorithms, Al-Khwarizmi is sometimes referred to as the father of
computer science.
• Improvements in Sundials: Sundial is an instrument that shows
time with the help of the position of the Sun. The sun forms a
shadow of the pointer on a plate that contains marks of the period.
The shadow of the pointer rotates on the marks when the sun
changes its position. Al-Khwarizmi improved the design of
sundials and made them a universal instrument for checking the
time in any part of the world.
• Decimal System: Al-Khwarizmi was the first to introduce the
decimal system for representing numbers. He introduced the
concept of zero and explained this numbering system in his book,
“Kitab al-Fusul fi al-Hisab al-Hindi”.

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 EUCLID

Euclid was born in 325 BCE in Alexandria, Egypt. Although much of

the information about him is uncertain, therefore, most precise
references have been used to assume as correct. Arab scholars write that
his father’s name was Naucrates and he was born in Tyre. He died in
270 BC in Alexandria, Egypt.
Euclid has remained one of the founding mathematicians. He
contributed many things to geometry due to his keen interest. Due to this
reason, the world knows him as the father of geometry. His name is also
present in the modern geometry book as “Euclidean geometry”. He most
probably gained basic education at the Academy of Plato – the Greek
philosopher. At that time, Ptolemy-I ruled Egypt, since it became part of
Greece under the dominance of Alexander the Great.
In modern geometry, a part of it is known as Euclidian geometry based
on his algorithms and theorems. Due to the foundational work on
geometry, he was given the title of “the father of geometry". Abraham
Lincoln – the US president during the civil war in America used
Euclid’s first axiom as an example to show its applicability in
democracy. The first axiom says things that are equal to the same thing
are equal. So, in a democracy, he referred to equality among all, saying
that heads are counted as equal without any discrimination. The
European Space Agency gave tribute to Euclid by naming their
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spacecraft as Euclid Spacecraft.

Contribution to Mathematics:

• Euclid’s contributions are mainly in the field of mathematics. It

has urged historians to mark him as one of the greatest
mathematicians. His invaluable additions to mathematics not only
revolutionized astronomy and space after many centuries. But it
also served as the foundation of geometry for all. Euclid’s
contributions include works on number theory, perspective,
mathematical rigour, conic sections, number theory and spherical
geometry.
• Elements – Euclid’s highly exclusive work became the guideline
for generations to come. This book contained compiled work of the
mathematicians before him but none had proved them. Euclid
compiled, ordered, and proved those theorems. He gave five
axioms – universally accepted truths in this book and five
postulates – an explanation of truth based on arguments. He had
divided the book into thirteen chapters.
• Data – This book contains information on geometric problems.
• Phenomena – The book Phenomena is on astronomy that studies
celestial bodies. It also mentions methods used to locate objects on
a particular date and time in space.

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 CONCLUSION

Mathematicians research mathematical principles and create their own

mathematical theories and techniques. They may conduct theoretical
research or apply their results to financial, commercial, government,
engineering, and social science challenges in the actual world.

A mathematician is someone who has enough knowledge of

mathematics to use math to solve problems in productive ways as a
profession. Mathematician studies and rework mathematical concepts in
a team or independent studies. Mathematicians are concerned with
numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.

Mathematicians do research in fields such as logic, set theory, abstract

algebra, number theory, geometry, topology, dynamical systems,
combinatorics, game theory, probability, and statistics. Mathematician
analyses mathematical data to detect trends and other relevant
information, also analyzing data to improve corporate operations and
boost growth.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• https://www.famousscientists.org/gottfried-leibniz/
• https://unacademy.com/content/upsc/study-material/general-
awareness/hipparchus-biography-and-facts/
• https://www.cuemath.com/learn/mathematics/geometry-hypatia-of-
alexandria/
• https://science4fun.info/al-khwarizmi/
• https://science4fun.info/euclid/

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