Basel Icons: Leonard Euler

Antara Das
Oct 22
3 min read

“The kind of knowledge which is supported only by observations and is not yet proved must be carefully distinguished from the truth.”

Leonard Euler

We continue our series on Basel Icons with Leonard Euler, a famous Swiss mathematician and polymath, known as a 'universal genius' whose mathematical concepts are still used today.

Early Life

Euler's Childhood home in Riehen, Source: Wikipedia

Leonhard Euler was born on April 15, 1707 in Basel, Switzerland to Pastor Paul III Euler and Marguerite née Brucker. He was the oldest of four siblings. Growing up in a pastor’s family, religious concepts were introduced to him early by his father. Later on, the family moved from Basel to Riehen, where he spent most of his childhood. Euler developed his love for mathematics at an early age with lessons given by his father. To further his education, he attended a Latin school in Basel and received tutoring from Jacob Bernoulli, a Swiss mathematician. In 1720, at only 14 years old, he was enrolled at the University of Basel to study theology, in accordance with his father's wishes.

In 1723, Euler received a Masters degree in Philosophy and started his journey to become a polymath, excelling in mathematics, physics, astronomy, logic, geography, and engineering. His studies later led to major findings in the fields of geometry, calculus, mechanics, astronomy, and number theory.

Euler's father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a theologian, but Euler was passionate about becoming a mathematician. His talents were reflected through his impressive ability for mental calculations with an amazing capacity for memorizing complicated mathematical concepts. Once Euler completed his studies at the University of Basel in 1726. He then applied for a mathematics professorship at the University of Basel, but was not accepted due to his young age.

Career

Euler was not ready to give up yet and was encouraged by other mathematicians to apply to the St. Petersburg Academy in Russia. Initially, Euler was offered a position in the medical department due to a vacancy, but he later transitioned to the mathematics department.

Being in this academy brought him stability. It was here that he wrote several articles and explored his interests and expertise in navigation, cartography, ballistics, mechanics, measurement, and mathematics. He was involved in teaching physics and mathematics, and was soon appointed to the mathematics-physics division of the Academy.

The permanent position and stability in Russia allowed him to start a family with Catharina Gsell, with whom he had 13 children. Many of his children also became interested in mathematics, becoming mathematicians themselves in later life.

His work at the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg led to an invitation from the Prussian king, Frederick II, to help establish an Academy of Sciences in Berlin in 1740. During his 25-year tenure in Berlin, Euler wrote 380 influential articles and assisted King Frederick in applying mathematics to his military endeavours providing expertise in ballistics, navigation, and canal design.

Later Life

In 1738 Euler became completely blind, but continued to work with the help of scribes. His sons especially supported him during this time and by 1775, he was releasing one mathematical paper a week. Throughout his deteriorating state, Euler remained passionate about developing his interests and sharing them. Over his lifespan, he produced over 900 articles, which were written in German, French, and Latin.

On September 18, 1783, Euler died from a brain hemorrhage in St. Petersburg.

Legacy

Leonard Euler contributed to many important concepts we still use today, including the Euler Identity (eiπ + 1 = 0). The Euler Identity is often called the most beautiful equation in mathematics as it shows a profound connection between the most fundamental numbers in mathematics. As mathematics professor Keith Develin of Standford University said, "it is like a Shakespearean sonnet that captures the very essence of love, or a painting that brings out the beauty of the human form that is far more than just skin deep, Euler's equation reaches down into the very depths of existence." This equation is still used today to analyze alternating current in electrical circuits as well as to model wave functions in quantum physics.

In Basel his significant contributions are honoured at University of Basel with the Bernoulli-Euler-Zentrum, an interdisciplinary research centre, and in Riehen at Pfarrhaus, (Kirchstrasse 7), his childhood home.