try were made by Gérard DesarguesDesargues, Gérard
, 1591–1661, French mathematician and engineer, a founder of modern geometry. He discovered the theorems on involutions and transversals known by his name and worked on conic sections. His writings, lost for a time, were republished in 1864.
..... Click the link for more information. and Blaise PascalPascal, Blaise
, 1623–62, French scientist and religious philosopher. Studying under the direction of his father, a civil servant, Pascal showed great precocity, especially in mathematics and science.
..... Click the link for more information. ; number theory was greatly extended by Pierre de FermatFermat, Pierre de
, 1601–65, French mathematician. A magistrate whose avocation was mathematics, Fermat is known as a founder of modern number theory and probability theory.
..... Click the link for more information. ; and the theory of probability was founded by Pascal, Fermat, and others. In the application of mathematics to mechanics and astronomy, GalileoGalileo
(Galileo Galilei) , 1564–1642, great Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. By his persistent investigation of natural laws he laid foundations for modern experimental science, and by the construction of astronomical telescopes he greatly enlarged
..... Click the link for more information. and Johannes KeplerKepler, Johannes
, 1571–1630, German astronomer. From his student days at the Univ. of Tübingen, he was influenced by the Copernican teachings. From 1593 to 1598 he was professor of mathematics at Graz and while there wrote his Mysterium cosmographicum (1596).
..... Click the link for more information. made fundamental contributions.
The greatest mathematical advances of the 17th cent., however, were the invention of analytic geometry by René DescartesDescartes, René
, Lat. Renatus Cartesius, 1596–1650, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, b. La Haye. Descartes' methodology was a major influence in the transition from medieval science and philosophy to the modern era.
..... Click the link for more information. and that of the calculus by Isaac NewtonNewton, Sir Isaac,
1642–1727, English mathematician and natural philosopher (physicist), who is considered by many the greatest scientist that ever lived. Early Life and Work
..... Click the link for more information. and, independently, by G. W. LeibnizLeibniz or Leibnitz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Baron von
, 1646–1716, German philosopher and mathematician, b. Leipzig.
..... Click the link for more information. . Descartes's invention (anticipated by Fermat, whose work was not published until later) made possible the expression of geometric problems in algebraic form and vice versa. It was indispensable in creating the calculus, which built upon and superseded earlier special methods for finding areas, volumes, and tangents to curves, developed by F. B. CavalieriCavalieri, Francesco Bonaventura
, 1598–1647, Italian mathematician, a Jesuit priest. Professor at Bologna from 1629, he invented the method of indivisibles (1635) that foreshadowed integral calculus.
..... Click the link for more information. , Fermat, and others. The calculus is probably the greatest tool ever invented for the mathematical formulation and solution of physical problems.
The history of mathematics in the 18th cent. is dominated by the development of the methods of the calculus and their application to such problems, both terrestrial and celestial, with leading roles being played by the BernoulliBernoulli
, name of a family distinguished in scientific and mathematical history. The family, after leaving Antwerp, finally settled in Basel, Switzerland, where it grew in fame.
..... Click the link for more information. family (especially Jakob, Johann, and Daniel), Leonhard EulerEuler, Leonhard
, 1707–83, Swiss mathematician. Born and educated at Basel, where he knew the Bernoullis, he went to St. Petersburg (1727) at the invitation of Catherine I, becoming professor of mathematics there on the departure of Daniel Bernoulli (1733).
..... Click the link for more information. , Guilla