William Dunham

Without question, Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) ranks among history's greatest mathematicians. Across six decades of unmatched productivity, and despite a visual impairment that grew ever worse, he charted the course of mathematics throughout the eighteenth century and beyond. His reputation is captured in Laplace's famous admonition, "Read Euler, read Euler. He is the master of us all." Written for the mathematically literate reader, this book provides a glimpse of Euler in action. Following an introductory biographical sketch are chapters describing his contributions to eight different topics-number theory, logarithms, infinite series, analytic number theory, complex variables, algebra, geometry, and combinatorics. At the end of the book is a brief outline of Euler's collected works, the monumental Opera Omnia, whose publication bas consumed virtually all of the twentieth century. Euler: The Master of Us All samples the work of a mathematician whose influence, industry, and ingenuity are of the very highest order.