Euler as an Old Man: The 1770's
Abstract: Leonhard Euler lost his vision to an eye infection in 1771. For many scientists, this would end their careers. Euler, though, stopped work for six months, then began a decade of immense productivity writing more than 400 papers as he trained a generation of scientists to succeed him. I will describe some of his more important work and how his "disciples" helped. I will also tell some little-known anecdotes from Euler's personal life and the life of the Academy.
Ed Sandifer is a Professor of Mathematics at