Discussion Paper: Leonhard Euler

Foundation of Mathematics (Math 11)

Eulers Ubiquity
Jan Nikkie C. Maquidato
During 18th century, there was a man who is known as giant of mathematics. He
was born in Basel, Switzerland and studied for a while under Johann Bernoulli. Due to
the dominance of Bernoulli family in Swiss mathematics, and the difficulty of finding a
good position and recognition in his hometown, he spent most of his academic life I
Russia and Germany. The man I have been talking to is no other than Leonhard Euler
(1707-1783).
There are lot of works Eulers done, the works that attributed 1 to him were the
notations. The use of letter e as a number wherein it a base of the natural logarithm, a
constant equal 2.71828The imaginary unit i for square root of -1that represent
infinite number. The Greek letter for the ratio of circumference to diameter in a circle,
although a prior occurrence is found in 1706, the year before Euler was born. To form
Euler identity eix + 1 = 0, which contains five significant numbers (as well as the
important operation) in all mathematics. These notations widely used today in geometry,
algebra, trigonometry, and Analysis, we find ubiquitous use of Eulerian symbols,
terminology, and ideas. The use of the small letters a, b, and c for the sides of a triangle
and of the corresponding capitals A, B, and C for the opposite angles stems from Euler,
as does the application of the letters r, R, and s for the radius of the inscribed and
circumscribed circles and the semi perimeter of the triangle, respectively. The beautiful
formula 4rRs = abc relating the six lengths is also one of the many elementary results
1 Jan Nikkie C. Maquidato Student, Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in
Mathematics, College of Teacher Education and Technology, University of
Southeastern Philippines Tagum-Mabini Campus

Discussion Paper: Leonhard Euler

Foundation of Mathematics (Math 11)

attributed to him, although equivalents of this result are implied by ancient geometry.
The designation lx for logarithm of x, the use of the now-familiar to indicate a
summation, and, perhaps most important of all, the notation f(x) for a function of x (used
in the Petersburg Commentaries for 1734 1735) are other Eulerian notations related to
ours. (Merzbach, 2011).
The Prime Number Theorem, which describes the asymptotic distribution of the
prime numbers. Which develop by other mathematicians up until present. In number
theory, Euler's theorem (also known as the FermatEuler theorem or Euler's totient
theorem) states that if n and a are coprime positive integers, then where is Euler's
totient function. (The notation is explained in the article modular arithmetic.) In
1736, Leonhard Euler published his proof of Fermat's little theorem, which Fermat had
presented without proof. Subsequently, Euler presented other proofs of the theorem,
culminating with "Euler's theorem" in his paper of 1763, in which he attempted to find
the smallest exponent for which Fermat's little theorem was always true

As a student of Mathematics, we must not consider to learn only the

mathematical contribution. But his life as well to get some idea and inspiration. Euler for
me is a very hardworking and patient person. Despite of the illness with his right eye, he
never stopped exploring the mathematical world. He is the best example for those
people who felt hopelessness for the bad things happen to them. He is not best-known
in his contribution but his eagerness to explore mathematics.

Discussion Paper: Leonhard Euler

Foundation of Mathematics (Math 11)

Today, Euler is considered as one of the greatest mathematician of all time. His
interests covered almost all aspects of mathematics, from geometry to calculus to
trigonometry to algebra to number theory (Mastin, 2010). In short, Euler is the man
Mathematical knowledge in different field.

References
Mastin, L. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.storyofmathematics.com/18th_euler.html
Merzbach, U. C. (2011). A History of Mathematics (3rd ed.).