18th Century Mathematics

 The period was dominated, though, by one family, the Bernoulli’s of Basel in Switzerland,
particularly the brothers, Jacob and Johann. They were largely responsible for further developing
Leibniz’s infinitesimal calculus - particularly through the generalization and extension of calculus
known as the "calculus of variations”

Calculus of variations

 Leonhard Euler, one of the greatest 18th Century Mathematician, excelled in all aspects of
mathematics, from geometry to calculus to trigonometry to algebra to number theory, and was
able to find unexpected links between the different fields. He proved numerous theorems,
pioneered new methods, standardized mathematical notation and wrote many influential
textbooks throughout his long academic life.

 Christian Goldbach a German mathematician, proposed the Goldbach Conjecture, which states
that every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes (e.g. 4 = 2 + 2;
8 = 3 + 5; 14 = 3 + 11 = 7 + 7; etc) or, in another equivalent version, every integer greater than 5
can be expressed as the sum of three primes. Yet another version is the so-called “weak”
Goldbach Conjecture, that all odd numbers greater than 7 are the sum of three odd prime.
Goldbach also proved other theorems in number theory such as the Goldbach-Euler Theorem on
perfect powers.

 In the early part of the century, Abraham de Moivre is perhaps best known for de Moivre's
formula, (cosx + isinx) n = cos(nx) + isin(nx), which links complex numbers and trigonometry. He
also generalized Newton’s famous binomial theorem into the multinomial theorem, pioneered
the development of analytic geometry, and his work on the normal distribution (he gave the first
statement of the formula for the normal distribution curve) and probability theory were of great
importance.
 Joseph Louis Lagrange collaborated with Euler in an important joint work on the calculus of
variation. Lagrange is also credited with the four-square theorem, that any natural number can
be represented as the sum of four squares (e.g. 3 = 1 2 + 1 2 + 1 2 + 0 2 ; 31 = 5 2 + 2 2 + 1 2 + 1 2
; 310 = 17 2 + 4 2 + 2 2 + 1 2 ; etc. as well as another theorem, confusingly also known as
Lagrange’s Theorem or Lagrange’s Mean Value Theorem, which states that, given a section of a
smooth continuous (differentiable) curve, there is at least one point on that section at which the
derivative (or slope) of the curve is equal (or parallel) to the average (or mean) derivative of the
section.

Lagrange’s Mean Value Theorem

 Pierre-Simon Laplace, sometimes referred to as “the French Newton”, was an important

mathematician and astronomer, whose monumental work “Celestial Mechanics” translated the
geometric study of classical mechanics to one based on calculus, opening up a much broader
range of problems.

 Adrien-Marie Legendre also made important contributions to statistics, number theory, abstract
algebra and mathematical analysis in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, although much of
his work (such as the least squares method for curvefitting and linear regression, the quadratic
reciprocity law, the prime number theorem and his work on elliptic functions) was only brought
to perfection.
  Gaspard Monge a Frenchman inventor of descriptive geometry. A clever method of representing
three-dimensional objects by projections on the two-dimensional plane using a specific set of
procedures, a technique which would later become important in the fields of engineering,
architecture and design

 in 1882, Ferdinand von Lindemann would prove that π is also transcendental, i.e. it cannot be
the root of any polynomial equation with rational coefficient

18th CENTURY MATHEMATICS- BERNOULLI BROTHERS

The period was dominated, though, by one family, the Bernoulli’s of Basel in Switzerland,
particularly the brothers, Jacob and Johann. Unusually in the history of mathematics, a single
family, the Bernoulli’s, produced half a dozen outstanding mathematicians over a couple of
generations at the end of the 17th and start of the 18th Century.

After Johann graduated from Basel University, the two developed a rather jealous and
competitive relationship. Johann in particular was jealous of the elder Jacob's position as
professor at Basel University. After Jacob's early death from tuberculosis, Johann took over his
brother's position. However, Johann merely shifted his jealousy toward his own talented son,
Daniel (at one point, Johann published a book based on Daniel's work, even changing the date
to make it look as though his book had been published before his son's).

Johann received a taste of his own medicine, though, when his student Guillaume de l'Hôpital
published a book in his own name consisting almost entirely of Johann's lectures, including his
now famous rule about 0 ÷ 0 (a problem which had dogged mathematicians since
Brahmagupta's initial work on the rules for dealing with zero back in the 7th Century). This
showed that 0 ÷ 0 does not equal zero, does not equal 1, does not equal infinity, and is not even
undefined, but is "indeterminate" (meaning it could equal any number). The rule is still usually
known as l'Hôpital's Rule, and not Bernoulli's Rule

Despite their competitive and combative relationship, the brothers both had a clear aptitude for
mathematics at a high level, and constantly challenged and inspired each other. They
established an early correspondence with Gottfried Leibniz. But they were more than just
disciples of Leibniz, and they also made their own important contributions. One well known and
topical problem of the day to which they applied themselves was that of designing a sloping
ramp which would allow a ball to roll from the top to the bottom in the fastest possible time.
Johann Bernoulli demonstrated through calculus that neither a straight ramp or a curved ramp
with a very steep initial slope were optimal, but actually a less steep curved ramp known as a
brachistochrone curve (a kind of upside-down cycloid, similar to the path followed by a point on
a moving bicycle wheel) is the curve of fastest descent.

The Bernoulli’s first derived the brachistrochrone

curve, using his calculus of variation method

This application was an example of the “calculus of

variations”, a generalization of Leibniz’s infinitesimal
calculus that the Bernoulli brothers Jacob developed
together, and has since proved useful in fields as diverse
as engineering, financial investment, architecture and
construction, and even space travel.

Calculus of variation

Jacob Bernoulli’s book “The Art of Conjecture”, published

posthumously in 1713, consolidated existing knowledge on
probability theory and expected values. He also added
personal contributions, such as his theory of permutations
and combinations, Bernoulli trials and Bernoulli distribution, and some important elements of
number theory, such as the Bernoulli Numbers sequence.

Jacob Bernoulli also discovered the approximate value of the irrational number e while
exploring the compound interest on loans. When compounded at 100% interest annually, $1.00
becomes $2.00 after one year; when compounded semi-annually it produces $2.25;
compounded quarterly $2.44; monthly $2.61; weekly $2.69; daily $2.71; etc. If it were to be
compounded continuously, the $1.00 would tend towards a value of $2.7182818... after a year,
a value which became known as e. Algebraically, it is the value of the infinite series (1 + 1 ⁄1)1 .(1
+ 1 ⁄2)2 .(1 + 1 ⁄3)3 .(1 + 1 ⁄4)

18TH CENTURY MATHEMATICS – EULER

Leonhard Euler was one of the giants of 18th Century. He spent most of his academic life in
Russia and Germany, especially in the burgeoning St. Petersburg of Peter the Great and
Catherine the Great. Euler had more than his fair share of tragedies and deaths, and even his
blindness later in life did not slow his prodigious output. Euler is considered one of the greatest
mathematicians of all time. His interests covered almost all aspects of mathematics, from
geometry to calculus to trigonometry to algebra to number theory, as well as optics, astronomy,
cartography, mechanics, weights and measures and even the theory of music.

Much of the notation used by mathematicians today - including e, i, f(x), ∑, and the use of a, b
and c as constants and x, y and z as unknowns - was either created, popularized or standardized
by Euler. His efforts to standardize these and other symbols (including π and the trigonometric
functions) helped to internationalize mathematics and to encourage collaboration on problems.

Euler seemed to have an instinctive ability to demonstrate the deep relationships between
trigonometry, exponentials and complex numbers. He produced one of the most beautiful of all
mathematical equations, e iπ = -1, sometimes known as Euler’s Identity. This equation combines
arithmetic, calculus, trigonometry and complex analysis into what has been called "the most
remarkable formula in mathematics”. Another such discovery, often known simply as Euler’s
Formula, is e ix = cosx + isinx.

Euler solved an intransigent mathematical and logical problem, known as the Seven Bridges of
Königsberg, and in doing so laid the foundations of graph theory and presaged the important
mathematical idea of topology.

List of theorems and methods pioneered by Euler

 the demonstration of geometrical properties such as Euler’s Line and Euler’s Circle;
 the definition of the Euler Characteristic χ (chi) for the surfaces of polyhedra, whereby
the number of vertices minus the number of edges plus the number of faces always
equals 2
 a new method for solving quartic equations;
 the Prime Number Theorem, which describes the asymptotic distribution of the prime
numbers;
 proofs (and in some cases disproofs) of some of Fermat’s theorems and conjectures;
 the discovery of over 60 amicable numbers (pairs of numbers for which the sum of the
divisors of one number equals the other number), although some were actually
incorrect;
 a method of calculating integrals with complex limits (foreshadowing the development
of modern complex analysis);
 the calculus of variations, including its best-known result, the Euler-Lagrange equation; a
proof of the infinitude of primes, using the divergence of the harmonic series;
 the integration of Leibniz‘s differential calculus with Newton‘s Method of Fluxions into a
form of calculus we would recognize today, as well as the development of tools to make
it easier to apply calculus to real physical problems.