Leonhard Euler

Date of Birth: 4/15/1707

Date of Death: 9/18/1783

Birthplace: Basel, Switzerland

Leonhard Euler was born to a pastor in the city of Basel, but spent most of his younger days in the town of Riehen. Euler's interest in mathematics was sparked at an early age when he began spending much of his time with a family friend Johann Bernoulli, who was widely considered a brilliant mathematician.

Euler's name surfaces in regard to many mathematical fields ranging from algebra all the way up through calculus. Euler was extremely influential in developing much of the vocabulary and notation that is now routinely used in the classroom. For example, Euler was the first to use function notation.

Function notation: f(x) = x + 3 was used instead of y = x + 3.

He was also considered to be the first to use the Greek letterpi to represent the number 3.141592... like it is used today.

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