The Greatest Mathematicians of All Time
Mathematics is the language in which the universe is written. These thinkers discovered its deepest structures, from Euclid's geometry to the foundations of computing.
- 1 99
Albert Einstein
Physicist · 1879 – 1955
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, and won the 1921 Nobel Prize.
- 2 99
Isaac Newton
Physicist · 1643 – 1727
Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician whose laws of motion and universal gravitation laid the foundation of classical mechanics and the Scientific Revolution.
- 3 95
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Mathematician · 1777 – 1855
Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and physicist whose profound contributions to number theory, statistics, geometry, astronomy and magnetism earned him the title "Prince of Mathematicians."
- 4 95
Galileo Galilei
Astronomer · 1564 – 1642
Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, the "father of modern science", whose telescopic discoveries and championing of heliocentrism transformed our understanding of the cosmos.
- 5 94
Archimedes
Mathematician · 287 BC – 212 BC
Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and inventor, widely regarded as the greatest mathematician of antiquity and a founder of mathematical physics and engineering.
- 6 93
Leonhard Euler
Mathematician · 1707 – 1783
Leonhard Euler was a Swiss mathematician and physicist, the most prolific mathematician in history, whose work shaped modern analysis, number theory, graph theory and mathematical notation.
- 7 93
Nicolaus Copernicus
Astronomer · 1473 – 1543
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model placing the Sun, not the Earth, at the center of the universe — a revolution in human thought.
- 8 92
James Clerk Maxwell
Physicist · 1831 – 1879
James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist whose equations unified electricity, magnetism and light into a single electromagnetic theory, one of the greatest achievements in the history of physics.
- 9 92
René Descartes
Philosopher · 1596 – 1650
René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist, the "father of modern philosophy", famous for "I think, therefore I am" and for founding analytic geometry.
- 10 91
Alan Turing
Mathematician · 1912 – 1954
Alan Turing was an English mathematician and computer scientist who founded theoretical computer science, helped break the German Enigma cipher in World War II, and pioneered the study of artificial intelligence.
- 11 91
Euclid
Mathematician · 325 BC – 265 BC
Euclid was an ancient Greek mathematician, the "father of geometry", whose treatise the Elements is the most influential mathematics textbook ever written.
- 12 90
Pythagoras
Mathematician · 570 BC – 495 BC
Pythagoras was an ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher who founded the Pythagorean school and is remembered for the Pythagorean theorem and the idea that number underlies the cosmos.
- 13 89
Al-Khwarizmi
Mathematician · 780 – 850
Al-Khwarizmi was a Persian mathematician and scholar of the Islamic Golden Age, the "father of algebra", whose name gave us the word "algorithm".
- 14 84
Ada Lovelace
Mathematician · 1815 – 1852
Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician widely regarded as the first computer programmer, who saw that Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine could go beyond calculation to manipulate symbols of any kind.
- 15 84
Hypatia
Mathematician · 360 – 415
Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer and Neoplatonist philosopher of late-antique Alexandria, the most prominent woman scholar of the ancient world, whose brutal murder came to symbolize the end of classical learning.