Many of the techniques and equations which are used in numerical methods are linked with famous mathematicians and scientists. Many of the mathematicians who worked on their problems struggled for a long time to reach a solution – sometimes it took a few days and sometimes it took years to hit on the solution. But, these famous people were all patient people, which is the reason they could achieve success. And, patience is one of the hallmarks of success. A number of mathematicians have contributed to the evergreen subject and of Mathematics and made into the subject that it is today. Profiles of a few mathematicians are seen here.
Archimedes: He is acclaimed as the greatest mathematician who has made significant contributions in geometry. His works had original ideas and excellent computational techniques which has made him a great mathematician.
Euclid: Euclid is a famous mathematician who has authored a treatise called ‘Euclid’s Elements’, which is divided into 13 parts. The treatise deals with geometry and number theory. His other works deal with optics, phenomena, division of figures and data.
Sir Isaac Newton: Sri Isaac Newton was a great scientist and mathematician who created the basis for calculus. By using differentiation as a basis, he developed simple analytical methods for various calculations. He created the world famous theory about the three laws of motion. He published the book ‘Principia’, which is considered to be the greatest scientific book ever to be written.
Pythagoras: Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician, who strongly believed that all relations could be expressed as a number relation. He was responsible for the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered proof for the existence of irrational numbers. He was the person who gave birth to modern day geometry.
Blaise Pascal: He was a French mathematician, who made inroads into geometry and other branches of mathematics. His work led to the invention of the syringe and the hydraulic press.
Aryabhatta: He was an eminent Indian mathematician, who was responsible for finding out the approximate value of Pi. He has also shown us how to calculate the value of a triangle.
Ramanujam: He has been described as the greatest mathematical genius of the 20th century. Ramanujam prime and Ramanujam theta functions have lead to further research. His formulae were found useful in string theory and in crystallography.