Deschutes Public Library

Leonhard Euler, mathematical genius in the Enlightenment, Ronald S. Calinger

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 571-623) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Leonhard Euler

bibliography

894625340

Ronald S. Calinger

mathematical genius in the Enlightenment

Introduction -- 1. The Swiss Years: 1707 to April 1727. "Das alte ehrwurdige 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 Konigsberg 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 MathematicalSciences -- 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 Konig 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-Konig Affair: The Early Second Phase -- Two Camps, Problems, and Inventions -- Botany and Maps -- The Maupertuis-Konig 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 -- Anleitung zur Nauturlehre 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, Turgot'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