Famous mathematicians

A short, curated list — not a ranking — of mathematicians whose results are still taught today, spanning over two thousand years.

• Euclid (330 BC–living)

  Compiled "Elements", the geometry textbook that defined the axiomatic method for over two thousand years.

• Pythagoras (570 BC–495 BC)

  Associated with the Pythagorean theorem relating the sides of a right triangle, though the result predates him in other cultures.

• Isaac Newton (1642–1727)

  Co-invented calculus alongside Leibniz and formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation.

• Leonhard Euler (1707–1783)

  Introduced much of modern mathematical notation, including f(x) and e for the base of natural logarithms.

• Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855)

  Contributed foundational work across number theory, statistics and geometry; sometimes called the "prince of mathematicians".

• Ada Lovelace (1815–1852)

  Wrote the first published algorithm intended for a machine, Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.

• Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920)

  Self-taught Indian mathematician whose notebooks of results, sent to Cambridge in 1913, are still studied for number theory insights.

• Emmy Noether (1882–1935)

  Proved Noether's theorem, linking symmetry and conservation laws in physics, foundational to modern theoretical physics.

• Alan Turing (1912–1954)

  Formalized the concept of computation with the Turing machine and worked on breaking the Enigma cipher during the Second World War.

• Katherine Johnson (1918–2020)

  NASA mathematician whose orbital calculations were critical to the Mercury and Apollo space missions.