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 Western Connecticut State University.  He is former chair of the Northeastern Section of the MAA, secretary of the Euler Society, and, despite an excellent education in ring theory under John Fogarty at the University of MassachusettsAmherst, now mostly works on the history of mathematics, especially Euler.  He writes a monthly column, “How Euler Did It” for MAA Online, has had a couple of books on Euler come out this year, and has run the Boston Marathon 35 times.