In my course on web design we're required to make a simple but complete web site on a topic of our choice.

I've decided to make one on the history of mathematics (a brief history), and also include brief biographies of 5 - 10 mathematicians who made interesting discoveries or were a great addition to mathematics as we know it today.

I'm going to include Gauss and Riemann, but I'd appreciate some names of more mathematicians whom I can go research.

Thanks in advance.

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This post is what's commonly known as opening a can of worms.

For what it's worth: The Thirty Greatest Mathematicians

I would certainly have Euler and Galois on my list .... Good luck narrowing down your selection.

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Euler and Galois were my first thoughts - also, Galois has an interesting story. Ramanujan also has a good story.

For your research you need not look further than Mactutor.

Also, you might want to mention that curious French general, Bourbaki. Not only was he at the head of a famous retreat, but although he wrote a series of very influential mathematics books, starting today's rigorous approach, he was refused membership of (I believe) the American Mathematical Society.

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If you ask me Newton is too high on the list (now if it were a list of physicists ..) and Alan Turing is missing altogether!?

(Einstein?? Kepler?? ...)

That looks a very questionable list if you ask me.

CB

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Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.

Giordano Bruno

If you are happy to have a list from the 1930's, so more modern examples are omitted you could just use the list of suspects from Bell's "Men of Mathematics" (note one was a woman, there probably should have been more, but then its a work of its time).

CB

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Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.

Giordano Bruno

Thanks for the replies everyone.

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What do you mean by general ? A military ?!?! Bourbaki is not even a he ^^
It's a group of a few mathematicians.

As you've been essentially given mathematicians from the 17th century (around), you may pick one in the ancient history, such as Euclid.

Are Newton and Einstein considered as mathematicians ?

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I don't know about Einstein, but I wouldn't include Newton in a list that includes "influence", as the list linked to above does. Although the Calculus is undoubtedly influential (probably his most influential contribution to mathematics), Liebnitz got there at the same time and his notation was much better. In fact, because of their argument British mathematics was held up. I believe it was Hardy that introduced European mathematics to Britain - Oxbridge maths undergrad exams basically required scholars to quote Newton's Principia Mathematica as if it were the Bible. Oxbridge masters were so out of touch with Europe, thanks to Newton, that Littlewood was given the Riemann Hypothesis to work on as a young research student,

"It is an amazing illustration of the isolation and insularity of British mathematics at that time that Barnes should have thought it suitable for even the most brilliant research student, and that Littlewood should have tackled it without demur." - Swinnerton-Dyer

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i agree! whoever made that list didn't know that much about math!

anyway, if you want to do a serious work, you should leave the oldies alone and take a look at more recent mathematicians. here's the top ones in my (algebraists) list:

Emmy Noether, Irving Kaplansky, Nathan Jacobson, Shimshon Amitsur*, Efim Zelmanov, Jean Pierre Serre, Michael Artin, David Hilbert, Alexander Grothendieck, Henry Cartan, Samuel Eilenberg,

Michael Atiyah, Oscar Zariski, and finally the last and certainly the least (haha) ... Jason Bell (just kidding! this one is my supervisor and i think he might become big some day!)

* Amitsur is not very famous (why??) but i belive he's one of the smartest mathematicians ever!

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Einstein no, Newton yes (but that would not necessarily put him at the head of the list both Gauss and Archimedes should come before him, and probably Euler and some others as well).

CB

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Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.

Giordano Bruno

I did say "for what it's worth" ....

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There are two things you should never try to prove: the impossible and the obvious.

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark. (Michelangelo Buonarroti)

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I am in fact more interested in the older mathematicians, not as far back as Pythagoras though. Of course he would be included in the brief history of mathematics say, but I won't be doing a page on him.

So far a rough draft of the list would be Gauss, Riemann, Euler, Newton (yes he was most certainly a mathematician!). Galois and Ramajuan are people I've heard of, but I will research those 2 again first before I make any decisions.

Einstein in my opinion was a physicist and I won't be including him.

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Cauchy brought "some" stuff to mathematics :P
Several important theorems in analysis, and a certain exactness in reasonings...

Again among the French ones, and "ancient" : Pascal, Fermat (though he was not a professional mathematician), Mersenne (though he originally was a monk, he brought some stuff in number theory), Sophie Germain.

Abel has a sad story, and was quite a good guy

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