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Mathematics in Money
The images on the main Mathematics & Physics webpage are all portraits of mathematicians who have appeared in paper currency from around the world. Here we present a sampling of their accomplishments.
Carl Friedrich Gauss (30 April 1777 – 23 February 1855) was a German mathematician and scientist of profound genius who contributed significantly to many fields of mathematics and science, including number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, electrostatics, astronomy, and optics. He proved the fundamental theorem of algebra (which states that every polynomial has a root of the form a+bi) as well as the fundamental theorem of arithmetic (which states that every natural number can be represented as the product of primes in only one way). Sometimes known as ``the prince of mathematicians,'' Gauss is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians.
Niels Henrik Abel (August 5 1802 – April 6 1829) was a Norwegian mathematician who accomplished an amazing amount of brilliant work in his short lifetime. Before turning 19, he had shown that the binomial theorem was valid for all numbers (extending Euler's result which had only held for rationals) and that there is no general algebraic solution for the roots of a quintic equation, or any general polynomial equation of degree greater than four. To do this, he invented an extremely important branch of mathematics known as group theory, which is invaluable not only in many areas of mathematics, but for much of physics as well. Abel's early death cut short a career of extraordinary brilliance and promise.
Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist. His treatise Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics. By demonstrating consistency between Kepler's laws of planetary motion and this system, he was the first to show that the motion of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws. In mathematics, Newton shares the credit with Gottfried Leibniz for the development of calculus.
Leonhard Euler (April 15 1707 – September 18 1783) was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist, who spent most of his life in Russia and Germany. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as calculus and topology. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis. He is also renowned for his work in mechanics, optics, and astronomy. Euler is considered to be the preeminent mathematician of the 18th century and one of the greatest of all time. He is also one of the most prolific; his collected works fill 60–80 volumes. A statement attributed to Pierre-Simon Laplace expresses Euler's influence on mathematics: "Read Euler! Read Euler! He is the master of us all".
Blaise Pascal (June 19 1623 – August 19 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. His earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences where he made important contributions to the construction of mechanical calculators, the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum. Pascal also wrote powerfully in defense of the scientific method. He was a mathematician of the first order. Pascal helped create two major new areas of research, projective geometry and probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern economics and social science. Following a mystical experience in late 1654, he abandoned his scientific work and devoted himself to philosophy and theology.
Note: The images on this page were obtained from the MacTutor History of Mathematics website and appear for illustrative purposes only. Printing them for the purposes of counterfeiting is clearly illegal.