"According to math professor Howard Anton, he “made major contributions to virtually every branch of mathematics as well as to the theory of optics, planetary motion, electricity, magnetism, and general mechanics.” His name was Leonhard Euler (pronounced oiler), a true genius who was also a committed Christian all his life.
What is particularly astonishing is that Euler was blind for the last 17 years of his life, and this was one of his most productive periods! Euler’s flawless memory was phenomenal. Early in his life he memorized the entire Aeneid by Virgil and at age 70 could not only recite the entire work, but could also state the first and last sentence on each page of the book from which he memorized the work. His ability to solve problems in his head was beyond belief. He worked out in his head major problems of lunar motion that baffled Isaac Newton and once did a complicated calculation in his head to settle an argument between two students whose computations differed in the fiftieth decimal place.
This gives us cause to ponder the possibilities inherent in the human brain. It makes us wonder what initial abilities the Creator gave to man that have been degenerating since the creation, only to surface occasionally to above-average levels in rare geniuses like Euler. It also makes us wonder how any theory of evolution could ever produce such a superabundance of potential, far more than needed for mere survival.
Dan Graves, in his excellent chapter on Euler in Scientists of Faith says, “Despite his turn to math, Euler retained his firm Calvinist beliefs throughout life, holding daily prayer and worship in his home and sometimes preaching.” Unable to find work in Switzerland, Leonhard moved to St. Petersburg, Russia where, at age 26, he met and married another Swiss emigrant, Katharina Gsell, his bride for 40 years.
Additional trials came from political and philosophical enemies. In his thirties, Euler moved from an unstable political situation in Russia, when spies were everywhere and purges were the rule, and worked under the Prussian emperor Frederick the Great. There he served 25 years and added immensely to the prestige of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. But his patron Frederick, an Enlightenment skeptic, sneered at the Christian faith of his niece’s tutor. In response, Euler wrote Letters to a German Princess, in which he gently combined piety with the sciences. The book became a best-seller in seven languages, but Frederick was not impressed. Voltaire, the French Enlightenment anti-Christian deist, joined in mocking Euler’s Biblical world view. Euler corresponded with apologetic works defending Christian doctrine against Voltaire, Leibniz, Wolff and other Enlightenment skeptics, until the interference and opposition by Frederick became intolerable and he had to uproot again. At age 59, he moved back to St. Petersburg to accept a position under Catherine II (the Great). The Russians welcomed him as a returning hero. But that was the year, 1766, when he became totally blind. In 1771, his house burned down and he escaped with his life and his manuscripts. Two years later, his wife died.
Euler’s work transformed the look of homework around the world: the convention of using the letter pi for the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, the letter e for the base of the natural logarithm, the Greek letter sigma for the sum of a series of numbers, and the letter i for the unit of imaginary numbers. The theory of infinities and continuity. Important work on our present understanding of functions, including the highly-used f notation such as y = f(x). Greater perfection in differential and integral calculus, including many new techniques for solving indefinite integrals and the introduction of the well-known integral sign. More simplicity in analytical operations. Advances in the theory of linear differential equations. The properties of integers and the theory of numbers, leading to the foundations of pure mathematics. Euler’s criterion. Euler’s constant. Euler numbers. The list goes on.
In addition, Euler tackled numerous theoretical and practical physical problems, including work on the basic principles of mechanics, optics, acoustics and astronomy. " CEV
This gives us cause to ponder the possibilities inherent in the human brain. It makes us wonder what initial abilities the Creator gave to man that have been degenerating since the creation, only to surface occasionally to above-average levels in rare geniuses like Euler. It also makes us wonder how any theory of evolution could ever produce such a superabundance of potential, far more than needed for mere survival.
Dan Graves, in his excellent chapter on Euler in Scientists of Faith says, “Despite his turn to math, Euler retained his firm Calvinist beliefs throughout life, holding daily prayer and worship in his home and sometimes preaching.” Unable to find work in Switzerland, Leonhard moved to St. Petersburg, Russia where, at age 26, he met and married another Swiss emigrant, Katharina Gsell, his bride for 40 years.
Additional trials came from political and philosophical enemies. In his thirties, Euler moved from an unstable political situation in Russia, when spies were everywhere and purges were the rule, and worked under the Prussian emperor Frederick the Great. There he served 25 years and added immensely to the prestige of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. But his patron Frederick, an Enlightenment skeptic, sneered at the Christian faith of his niece’s tutor. In response, Euler wrote Letters to a German Princess, in which he gently combined piety with the sciences. The book became a best-seller in seven languages, but Frederick was not impressed. Voltaire, the French Enlightenment anti-Christian deist, joined in mocking Euler’s Biblical world view. Euler corresponded with apologetic works defending Christian doctrine against Voltaire, Leibniz, Wolff and other Enlightenment skeptics, until the interference and opposition by Frederick became intolerable and he had to uproot again. At age 59, he moved back to St. Petersburg to accept a position under Catherine II (the Great). The Russians welcomed him as a returning hero. But that was the year, 1766, when he became totally blind. In 1771, his house burned down and he escaped with his life and his manuscripts. Two years later, his wife died.
Euler’s work transformed the look of homework around the world: the convention of using the letter pi for the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, the letter e for the base of the natural logarithm, the Greek letter sigma for the sum of a series of numbers, and the letter i for the unit of imaginary numbers. The theory of infinities and continuity. Important work on our present understanding of functions, including the highly-used f notation such as y = f(x). Greater perfection in differential and integral calculus, including many new techniques for solving indefinite integrals and the introduction of the well-known integral sign. More simplicity in analytical operations. Advances in the theory of linear differential equations. The properties of integers and the theory of numbers, leading to the foundations of pure mathematics. Euler’s criterion. Euler’s constant. Euler numbers. The list goes on.
In addition, Euler tackled numerous theoretical and practical physical problems, including work on the basic principles of mechanics, optics, acoustics and astronomy. " CEV
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding,
and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
Exodus 31:3
