Mathematicians

There have been so many men who have made it into the math history charts. If it were not for these men, math would not be the same as it is today. There would be so many things that we have not been able to understand. The world and its functions would still be a mystery. Gravity is something that most people take for granted. If it was not for English Sir Issac Newton (1642-1727) we would be lost. Newton is bound to be one of the most famous mathematicians in the math and physics worlds. For he is the one who watched an apple fall from a tree and automatically created the laws of gravity. Of course, this is not exactly how it happened, but it may just be one of the most minimal definitions of Newton's forever known discovery.

To many, he is known to be a mathematician but because of his genius abilities, he was able to know “mathematics, optics, dynamics, thermodynamics, acoustics and celestial mechanics”. He is most famous for his Three Laws of Motion, which are the laws of inertia, force, and reciprocal action. Unlike many mathematicians in the past, he was one of the ones who also credited his work to others who had studied the same material before him. He has created various theorems that are still used to this day. A very popularly known theorem that is used is his equation: e^x = ∑ x^k / k!. (I would not know where start). People argue that this may be one of the “most important series in mathematics”. Newton was also the first man to ever understand the motion of the planets and more importantly, why their movement occurred. His calculations of the moon and sun seem as if they were too good to be true. He explains and describes all of his thoughts and final theorems in his book, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, talking about the motion of planets; it was published in 1687. He goes into detail about his three Laws of Motion and the Law of Universal Gravitation.

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Blaise Pascal was a young mathematician from France. He began his mathematical adventure as a child studying geometry. He was not only a mathematician but, he was very educated in physics and mechanics. Throughout his live, he suffered health disadvantages which stopped him from possibly becoming one of the greatest of all time. It was a gift that Pascal started working with numbers at a young age. The name 'Pascal' may sound familiar to students because of the math-made-simple miracle known as Pascal's Triangle. Pascal's Triangle is a math helper that associates with so many patterns. It was first developed by the Chinese, but Pascal was the one who found all of its importance.

This is a sight that describes many of the functions of Pascal's triangle: http://ptri1.tripod.com/

If you thought that there were only a few patterns to this triangle, think again and check out this website because there are so many interesting ways to use that you probably did not know.