bios.yaml

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# Biographies
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archimedes:
  name: Archimedes
  bio: |
    __Archimedes__ (c. 287 – c. 212 BC) was an ancient Greek scientist and
    engineer, and one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He discovered
    many concepts of calculus, and worked in geometry, analysis and mechanics.

    While taking a bath, Archimedes discovered a way to determine the volume of
    irregular objects using the amount of water they displaced when submerged.
    He was so excited by this discovery that he run out on the street, still
    undressed, yelling _“Eureka!”_ (Greek for _“I have found it!”_).

    As engineer he built ingenious defence machines during the siege of his home
    city Syracuse in Sicily. After two years, the Romans finally managed to
    enter and Archimedes as killed. His last words were _“Do not disturb my
    circles”_ – which he was studying at the time.

euclid:
  name: Euclid of Alexandria
  bio: __Euclid of Alexandria__ (around 350 BCE) was a Greek mathematician and
    is often called the _father of geometry_. He published a book _Elements_
    that first introduced Euclidean geometry and contained many important proofs
    in geometry and number theory. It was the main mathematics textbook until
    the 19th century. He taught mathematics in Alexandria, but very little else
    is known about his life.

euler:
  name: Leonhard Euler
  bio: |
    __Leonhard Euler__ (1707 – 1783) was one the greatest mathematicians of all
    times. His work spans all areas of mathematics, and he wrote 80 volumes of
    research.

    Euler was born in Switzerland and studied in Basel, but lived most of his
    life in Berlin, Prussia, and St. Petersburg, Russia.

    Euler invented much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, and
    made important discoveries in calculus, analysis, graph theory, physics,
    astronomy, and many other topics.

gauss:
  name: Carl Friedrich Gauss
  bio: |
    __Carl Friedrich Gauss__ (1777 – 1855) was arguably the greatest
    mathematician of all times. He made groundbreaking discoveries in just about
    every field of mathematics, from algebra and number theory to statistics,
    calculus, geometry, geology and astronomy.

    According to legend, he corrected a mistake in his father‘s accounting at
    the age of 3, and found a way to easily add up all integers from 1 to 100 at
    the age of 8. He made his first important discoveries while still a
    teenager, and later tutored many other famous mathematicians as Professor.

newton:
  name: Isaak Newton
  bio: |
    __Sir Isaac Newton__ (1642 – 1726) was an English mathematician,
    astronomer and physicist, and one of the most influential scientists of all
    time. He was a fellow of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, and
    president of the Royal Society in London.

    In his book _Principia Mathematica_, Newton formulated the laws of motion
    and gravity, which laid the foundations for classical physics and dominated
    our view of the universe for the next three centuries.

    Among many other things, Newton was one of the inventors of calculus, built
    the first reflecting telescope, calculated the speed of sound, studied the
    motion of fluids, and developed a theory of colour based on how prisms split
    sunlight into a rainbow-coloured spectrum.

pythagoras:
  name: Pythagoras
  bio: |
    __Pythagoras of Samos__ (c. 570 – 495 BC) was a Greek philosopher and
    mathematician. He is best known for proving _Pythagoras’ Theorem_, but made
    many other mathematical and scientific discoveries.

    Pythagoras tried to explain music in a mathematical way, and discovered that
    two tones sound “nice” together (consonant) if the ratio of their
    frequencies is a simple fraction.

    He also founded a school in Italy where he and his students worshipped
    mathematics almost like a religion, while following a number of bizzare
    rules – but the school was eventually burned down by their adversaries.