Mathematics
| Subject | Father/mother of … | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Algebra Brahmagupta |
Brahmagupta Al-Khwarizmi (Algorismi) Diophantus |
Full exposition of solving quadratic equations in his Al-Jabr and recognized algebra as an independent discipline. First use of symbolism (syncopation) in his Arithmetica. |
| Algebraic topology | Henri Poincaré | Published Analysis Situs in 1895, introducing the concepts of homotopy and homology, which are now considered part of algebraic topology. |
| Analysis | Augustin-Louis Cauchy Karl Weierstrass |
|
| Analytic geometry | René Descartes Pierre de Fermat(founders) |
For their independent invention of the Cartesian Coordinate System |
| Calculus | Isaac Newton Gottfried Leibniz |
See Leibniz and Newton calculus controversy. |
| Classical analysis | Madhava of Sangamagrama | Developed Taylor series expansions of trigonometric functions |
| Computer science | George Boole Alan Turing |
Invented Boolean logic, which is the basis of modern digital computer logic Provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. |
| Descriptive geometry | Gaspard Monge (founder) |
Developed a graphical protocol which creates three-dimensional virtual space on a two-dimensional plane |
| Fractal geometry | Benoît B. Mandelbrot | |
| Geometry | Euclid | Euclid's Elements deduced the principles of Euclidean geometry from a set of axioms. |
| Graph Theory | Leonhard Euler | See Seven Bridges of Königsberg |
| Italian school of algebraic geometry | Corrado Segre | Publications and students developing algebraic geometry |
| Non-Euclidean geometry | János Bolyai, Nikolai Lobachevsky(founders) |
Independent development of hyperbolic geometry in which Euclid's fifth postulate is not true |
| Number theory | Pythagoras | |
| Probability | Gerolamo Cardano, Pierre de Fermat, Blaise Pascal, Christiaan Huygens (founders) | Fermat and Pascal co-founded probability theory, about which Huygens wrote the first book |
| Projective geometry | Gérard Desargues(founder) | By generalizing the use of vanishing points to include the case when these are infinitely far away |
| Tensor calculus | Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro (founder) |
Book: The Absolute Differential Calculus |
| Trigonometry | Aryabhata Hipparchus | Constructed the first trigonometric table. |
| Vector algebra, vector calculus |
Willard Gibbs Oliver Heaviside (founders) |
For their development and use of vectors in algebra and calculus |
Read more about this topic: List Of People Considered Father Or Mother Of A Scientific Field, Formal Sciences
Famous quotes containing the word mathematics:
“... though mathematics may teach a man how to build a bridge, it is what the Scotch Universities call the humanities, that teach him to be civil and sweet-tempered.”
—Amelia E. Barr (1831–1919)
“In mathematics he was greater
Than Tycho Brahe, or Erra Pater:
For he, by geometric scale,
Could take the size of pots of ale;
Resolve, by sines and tangents straight,
If bread and butter wanted weight;
And wisely tell what hour o’ th’ day
The clock doth strike, by algebra.”
—Samuel Butler (1612–1680)
“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
—John Adams (1735–1826)