EULER, Leonhard

Leonhard Euler was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, and utter genius of the 18th century. It’s said that he could calculate the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle just by looking at it, and that he once solved a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded in 30 seconds… backwards.

Euler is most famous for his contributions to the field of mathematics. If you’ve ever heard of “Euler’s Number”, then congratulations! You’re basically a mathematician. Euler’s Number is a mathematical constant that’s used to calculate exponential growth, which is why it’s also called “e”. Clever, huh?

Euler was also a bit of a poet, and he wrote many love letters to his favorite number. He once wrote in a letter to “e”: “My dear e, you are the most irrational number I know, but I love you just the same. You make me feel like the derivative of a function, always chasing after your elusive value.”

Despite his many achievements, Euler was not infallible. According to legend, he once got lost in his own house for three days because he’d miscalculated the dimensions of the hallway. He also had a terrible habit of falling asleep in the middle of giving lectures. But hey, when you’re as brilliant as Euler, some quirks are to be expected.

Euler has inspired countless other mathematicians and scientists, including Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Even today, his ideas continue to influence our understanding of the world around us. So here’s to you, Leonhard Euler. You may have been a bit weird, but you were definitely e-xtraordinary.