In the field of mathematics, the whole18th century can be called the century of Euler. Euler is a central figure in the field of mathematics in the18th century, and one of the most important mathematicians after Newton. Euler sorted out the analysis contents of Leibniz school inherited by Bernoulli family, which laid the foundation for the development of mathematics in19th century. He also further developed the calculus method to the range of complex numbers in form, leaving pioneering achievements for the establishment and development of partial differential equations, elliptic function theory and variational methods. In the complete works of Euler, 17 belongs to the field of analysis. He was praised as "the embodiment of analysis" by his contemporaries. When I was young, when I was studying the so-called "Olympiad", I met Euler because of the problem of the seventh bridge in Konigsberg and said goodbye in a hurry. Ten years, I don't want to say goodbye. I went to college, because of Mr. Liu, I had the opportunity to pursue the back of this giant again. This biography of mathematician Euler at hand, once picked up, can never be put down. A real Euler, a living Euler, is coming to the author.
In this biography, there is an anecdote: when Euler first entered primary school, he once asked the theology teacher how many stars there were in the sky. The teacher replied, "God doesn't know, it was inlaid by God himself." . Euler is even more puzzled: if God can inlay, why can't he figure it out? He kept asking questions but was punished by the teacher, because he actually questioned the authority of God ... Suddenly he remembered Liang Shuming, who was hired as a professor at Peking University with a primary school education, and soon became famous at home and abroad with the publication of "Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophy", but Mr. Liang always stressed that "I am not a scholar, but a problematic person"-Euler made his own truth "understand" from an early age. On the other hand, the so-called "quality education" in our primary and secondary schools now pursues a standard answer to all questions, thus obscuring the innate rational light of many students. In this sense, our age of enlightenment is not over, but has not yet arrived. Even in the field of "normative science" such as mathematics, it is necessary to ask questions and doubt. Popper's research on philosophy of science and technology has long pointed out that the falsifiable proposition is likely to be confirmed, and what we need to be most alert to is the trend of thought of "scientism", which is precisely the most unscientific.
According to the book, Euler deserves to be one of the most prolific natural scientists in the history of science. In his unremitting pursuit of science, * * wrote 886 books and 886 papers, among which analysis, algebra and number theory accounted for 40%, geometry for 18%, physical mechanics for 28%, astronomy for 1 1%, and ballistics. It is no accident that Euler's works are surprisingly numerous. He can work in any unfavorable environment. He often puts his children on his knees to finish his papers, no matter how noisy they are nearby. His tenacious perseverance and tireless academic spirit made him never stop studying mathematics after he became blind. During the 17 years after his blindness, he also dictated several books and 400 papers, so that even Mathematics was written.
The author pays special attention to Euler's blindness: overwork made Euler suffer from eye diseases and unfortunately lost his right eye, when he was only 28 years old. 174 1 year, at the invitation of frederick the great of Prussia, Euler went to Berlin as the director of the Institute of Physical Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1766, under the sincere urging of czar Cadling II, Euler returned to Petersburg. Unexpectedly, not long after, his left eye vision decreased and he was completely blind. Unfortunate things followed. 177 1 year, the Petersburg fire damaged Euler's residence. 64-year-old Euler was blinded by illness and was trapped in the fire. Although he was saved from the fire by others, his research and a lot of research results were reduced to ashes. The heavy blow still didn't make Euler fall, and he vowed to get the loss back. Before he was completely blind, he could still see vaguely. He seized the last moment, scribbled down the formula he found on a big blackboard, and then dictated its contents. His students, especially his eldest son A? Euler's report card. After Euler was completely blind, he still fought against the darkness with amazing perseverance and studied with memory and mental arithmetic until his death, which lasted 17 years. God can take away Euler's eyes, but he can't take away his brave heart ... At this moment, I can't help but think of Chen Yinque, the similar experiences and different endings of Mr. Chen and Euler: after Mr. Chen was completely blind, he could only rely on "singing red makeup" to relieve his depression in "New China", and there was no room for such a real master on the three-foot platform! Euler was able to continue his cutting-edge scientific research on 17 after he was blind, but Mr. Chen could only attach his feelings to the evidence of "Qian Liu's marriage change" and could no longer study the history of Sui and Tang Dynasties, which he had begun to take shape. How can "reading Euler's sigh" not make people feel sad?
Euler not only has mathematicians' rigorous scientific logic, but also has profound humanistic feelings. In academic research, he is an unpaid junior-Lagrange is a great mathematician later than Euler. From the age of 19, he and Euler exchanged and discussed the general solution of isoperimetric problem, from which the variational method was born. Lagrange's solution was painstakingly considered by Euler for many years and won the warm praise of Euler. 1June 2, 759, Euler called it Lagrange in his reply. Euler's scientific research papers are fluent in writing and clear in thinking, and contain humanistic implications and science. In his later years, Euler was regarded as a teacher by all mathematicians in Europe. The famous mathematician Laplace once said, "Euler is our mentor." As a scholar, Euler fully meets Fichte's standard: "From this last aspect, a scholar should be the best moral person of his time, and he should represent the highest level of moral development that he can achieve in his time." Scientists' humanistic feelings were shared by famous scholars in the Republic of China, such as Li Siguang, Zhu Kezhen, Ding Wenjiang, Weng, Hou and Qian Weichang. But now, on the one hand, the premature division of arts and sciences in high school, "learning mathematics and physics well and playing all over the world are not afraid", makes science and engineering students even "don't know Han, regardless of Wei and Jin Dynasties"; On the other hand, scientists have become scientific and technological workers, who have become more and more "professional" and lost their essential humanistic feelings in the process. According to Banda, this is simply "the betrayal of intellectuals." The more I walk into Euler, the more I feel Euler's noble soul, and the more I understand why smart people in China (mainland only) never get the Nobel Prize, the highest prize in scientific research, but Mr. Li Yuanzhe in Taiwan Province Province can get this honor.
1783 One afternoon in September, Euler invited his friends to dinner to celebrate his successful calculation of the law of balloon rising. At that time, Uranus had just been discovered, and Euler wrote the essentials of Uranus orbit calculation. After drinking tea, suddenly, his pipe fell from his hand and muttered, "I'm dead." Euler finally "stopped living and calculating."
Perhaps exploring Euler's great soul now is a step for the author to clarify his rationality.