Leonhard Euler

Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) was a devout Christian who became the greatest mathematician of the eighteenth century and perhaps the most productive of all time. He published 886 papers and his complete works consume about 90 volumes. The St. Petersburg Academy, where Euler worked after been raised in Switzerland and spending some time in Berlin, spent 30 more years after Euler died in continuing to publish his work. Yet much of Euler's work was done when he was completely blind.

Euler created Euler's formula, a basis for complex analysis. Euler also laid a foundation for what later became combinatorial topology.

Interestingly, Euler had extraordinary powers of concentration. He could recite the entire Aeneid word-for-word. He could work amid noise and distractions. He could do phenomenal calculations in his head, which became very useful after he went blind.