1802-1829
Niels Henrik Abel
Norway
Niels Henrik Abel was mathematician. He proved that no general formula by radicals solves every fifth-degree polynomial and advanced elliptic functions.
Documented historical recordMath Adventures
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Showing 1–18 of 22 matching heroes.
Biblical era; date uncertain
Abraham
Canaan and the ancient Near East
Abraham managed a large traveling household, livestock, trade, armed servants, and a carefully weighed land purchase. Those responsibilities depended on counting, inventory, rates, and planning.
Direct biblical text with mathematical inferencec. 850-c. 930
Abu Kamil
Egypt
Abu Kamil was algebraist. He extended algebraic methods to problems with irrational quantities and systems of equations.
Documented historical record1921-1991
José Adem
Mexico
José Adem was mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to algebraic topology, including cohomology operations called Adem relations.
Documented historical record1718-1799
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
Milan, Italy
An Italian mathematician and educator who wrote a major systematic textbook explaining algebra, analytic geometry, differential calculus, and integral calculus.
Documented historical recordActive around 1650 BCEFeatured
Ahmes
Ancient Egypt
An Egyptian scribe whose surviving copy of an older mathematics text preserves arithmetic, fractions, measurement, and practical problem solving from the ancient world.
Documented historical recordc. 858-929
Al-Battani
Mesopotamia and Syria
Al-Battani was astronomer and mathematician. He improved astronomical observations and used trigonometric relationships involving sines, tangents, and cotangents.
Documented historical record973-c. 1050Featured
Al-Biruni
Khwarazm, Central and South Asia
Al-Biruni was mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and scholar. He used trigonometry and careful measurement to determine coordinates, distances, and an estimate of Earth’s radius.
Documented historical recordc. 953-c. 1029
Al-Karaji
Persia and Baghdad
Al-Karaji was mathematician and engineer. He treated powers of unknowns algebraically and developed rules for polynomial arithmetic and mathematical induction-like arguments.
Documented historical recordc. 1380-1429
Jamshid al-Kashi
Persia and Samarkand
Jamshid al-Kashi was mathematician and astronomer. He calculated pi to many sexagesimal places, worked with decimal fractions, and produced highly accurate trigonometric values.
Documented historical recordc. 801-c. 873
Al-Kindi
Iraq and the Abbasid world
Al-Kindi was philosopher, mathematician, and scholar. He wrote on arithmetic, geometry, optics, music, astronomy, and methods for analyzing letter frequencies.
Documented historical recordc. 1130-c. 1180
Al-Samawal
Baghdad and the Islamic world
Al-Samawal was mathematician and physician. He developed polynomial arithmetic, rules for exponents, and methods for handling negative powers.
Documented historical record1932-2022
Grace Alele-Williams
Nigeria
Grace Alele-Williams was mathematician, educator, and university leader. She researched mathematics education and became the first woman to serve as vice-chancellor of a Nigerian university.
Documented historical record1403-1474
Ali Qushji
Samarkand and the Ottoman world
Ali Qushji was astronomer, mathematician, and teacher. He worked on arithmetic and astronomy and helped transmit the Samarkand mathematical tradition westward.
Documented historical record1932-2020
Frances Allen
United States
Frances Allen was computer scientist. She pioneered compiler optimization and program analysis for high-performance computing.
Documented historical record1921-2006
Kathleen Antonelli
Ireland and the United States
Kathleen Antonelli was mathematician and computer programmer. She was one of the six original ENIAC programmers and translated ballistic equations into machine operations.
Documented historical recordc. 600-c. 540 BCE
Apastamba
Ancient India
Apastamba was Vedic scholar and ritual geometer. The Apastamba Sulba Sutra gives geometric construction rules, area transformations, and an accurate approximation to the square root of two.
Historical record with limited biographyc. 262-c. 190 BCE
Apollonius of Perga
Perga and Alexandria
Apollonius of Perga was Greek geometer and astronomer. His Conics organized the geometry of ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas.
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