Leonhard Euler Mathematical genius in the Enlightenment

Ronald Calinger

Book - 2016

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Subjects
Published
Princeton : Princeton University Press [2016]
Language
English
Main Author
Ronald Calinger (-)
Physical Description
xvii, 669 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 571-623) and index.
ISBN
9780691119274
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Author's Notes
  • Introduction
  • 1. The Swiss Years: 1707 to April 1727
  • "Das alte ehrwürdige Basel" (Worthy Old Basel)
  • Lineage and Early Childhood
  • Formal Education in Basel
  • Initial Publications and the Search for a Position
  • 2. "Into the Paradise of Scholars": April 1727 to 1730
  • Founding Saint Petersburg and the Imperial Academy of Sciences
  • A Fledgling Camp Divided
  • The Entrance of Euler
  • 3. Departures, and Euler in Love: 1730 to 1734
  • Courtship and Marriage
  • Groundwork Research and Massive Computations
  • 4. Reaching the "Inmost Heart of Mathematics": 1734 to 1740
  • The Basel Problem and the Mechanica
  • The Königsberg Bridges and More Foundational Work in Mathematics
  • Scientia navalis Polemics, and the Prix de Paris
  • Pedagogy and Music Theory
  • Daniel Bernoulli and Family
  • 5. Life Becomes Rather Dangerous: 1740 to August 1741
  • Another Paris Prize, a Textbook, and Book Sales
  • Health, Interregnum Dangers, and Prussian Negotiations
  • 6. A Call to Berlin: August 1741 to 1744
  • "Ex Oriente Lux": Toward a Frederician Era for the Sciences
  • The Arrival of the Grand Algebraist
  • The New Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences
  • Europe's Mathematician, Whom Others Wished to Emulate
  • Relations with the Petersburg Academy of Sciences
  • 7. "The Happiest Man in the World": 1744 to 1746
  • Renovation, Prizes, and Leadership
  • Investigating the Fabric of the Universe
  • Contacts with the Petersburg Academy of Sciences
  • Home, Chess, and the King
  • 8. The Apogee Years, I: 1746 to 1748
  • The Start of the New Royal Academy
  • The Monadic Dispute, Court Relations, and Accolades
  • Exceeding the Pillars of Hercules in the Mathematical Sciences
  • Academic Clashes in Berlin, and Euler's Correspondence with the Petersburg Academy
  • The Euler Family
  • 9. The Apogee Years, II: 1748 to 1750
  • The Introductio and another Paris Prize
  • Competitions and Disputes
  • Decrial, Tasks, and Printing Scientia navalis
  • A Sensational Retraction and Discord
  • State Projects and the "Vanity of Mathematics"
  • The König Visit and Daily Correspondence
  • Family Affairs
  • 10. The Apogee Years, III: 1750 to 1753
  • Competitions in Saint Petersburg, Paris, and Berlin
  • Maupertuis's Cosmologie and Selected Research
  • Academic Administration
  • Family Life and Philidor
  • Rivalries: Euler, d'Alembert, and Clairaut
  • The Maupertuis-König Affair: The Early Second Phase
  • Two Camps, Problems, and Inventions
  • Botany and Maps
  • The Maupertuis-König Affair: The Late Second and Early
  • Third Phases
  • Planetary Perturbations and Mechanics
  • Music, Rameau, and Basel
  • Strife with Voltaire and the Academy Presidency
  • 11. Increasing Precision and Generalization in the Mathematical Sciences: 1753 to 1756
  • The Dispute over the Principle of Least Action: The Third Phase
  • Administration and Research at the Berlin Academy
  • The Charlottenburg Estate
  • Wolff, Segner, and Mayer
  • A New Correspondent and Lessons for Students
  • Institutiones calculi differentialis and Fluid Mechanics
  • A New Telescope, the Longitude Prize, Haller, and Lagrange
  • AnleitungzurMautwiehre and Electricity and Optimism Prizes
  • 12. War and Estrangement, 1756 to July 1766
  • The Antebellum Period
  • Into the Great War and Beyond
  • Losses, Lessons, and Leadership
  • Rigid-Body Disks, Lambert, and Better Optical Instruments
  • The Presidency of the Berlin Academy
  • What Soon Happened, and Denouement
  • 13. Return to Saint Petersburg: Academy Reform and Great Productivity, July 1766 to 1773
  • Restoring the Academy: First Efforts
  • The Grand Geometer: A More Splendid Oeuvre
  • A Further Research Corpus: Relentless Ingenuity
  • The Kulibin Bridge, the Great Fire, and One Fewer Distraction
  • Persistent Objectives: To Perfect, to Create, and to Order
  • 14. Vigorous Autumnal Years: 1773 to 1782
  • The Euler Circle
  • Elements of Number Theory and Second Ship Theory
  • The Diderot Story and Katharina's Death
  • The Imperial Academy: Projects and Library
  • The Russian Navy, Target's Request, and a Successor
  • At the Academy: Technical Matters and a New Director
  • A Second Marriage and Rapprochement with Frederick II
  • End of Correspondence and Exit from the Academy
  • Mapmaking and Prime Numbers
  • A Notable Visit and Portrait
  • Magic Squares and Another Honor
  • 15. Toward "a More Perfect State of Dreaming": 1782 to October 1783
  • The Inauguration of Princess Dashkova
  • 1783 Articles
  • Final Days
  • Major Eulogies and an Epilogue
  • Notes
  • General Bibliography of Works Consulted
  • Register of Principal Names
  • General Index
Review by Choice Review

This work befits Leonhard Euler, one of the greatest mathematicians ever, and fills in details that raise his stature even further. As a historian, Calinger (emer., Catholic Univ. of America) is respected for his texts that explore the history of mathematics. This focused effort is his best! Calinger successfully embeds Euler's mathematical and physics results in a rich context--cultural, political, religious, and intellectual--while providing great insight into Euler as a person. Though Calinger does mention many of Euler's amazing mathematical creations--theorems, concepts, symbols, and entirely new fields--he does not focus on explaining the details. Rather, he rightfully maintains his focus on Euler as a mathematician in a context. In turn, Calinger's documentation of revealed events and responding actions is impressive. To explore Euler's mathematical results in more detail, readers should consult the excellent tercentenary volumes issued by the Mathematical Association of America in 2007, e.g., Euler at 300, edited by R. Bradley, L. D'Antonio, and C. Sandifer (CH, Feb'08, 45-3165). In addition to mathematics, Calinger includes Euler's contributions in areas such as optics, fluid mechanics, telescopes, ballistics, cartography, and music theory. Extensive chapter notes, an impressive bibliography, a helpful principal name index, and a general index support the work. Read this book about Euler and be enlightened! Summing Up: Essential. All history of mathematics collections. --Jerry Johnson, Western Washington University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.