15 Famous Greek Mathematicians and Their
Contributions
The word Greek comes across our educational years
time and time again. In history we read about them in
Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empire, in religion we
read about the legendary Greek Gods, in language we
read about their symbolism and literature. The Ancient
Greeks are famously known for their history,
literature, arts, science, philosophy and religion.
However there is one field the Greeks have mastered
in, mathematics that we do not appreciate as much as
we should be. Therefore this article summarizes the
greatest personalities in the ancient Greek history.
Being a mathematician is not an easy task but the
Greek seems to have mastered in the field. Here is a
list of the top 15 famous Greek mathematicians and
their contributions!
1.Euclid
He was also known as Euclid of Alexandria and referred
as the father of geometry deduced the Euclidean
geometry. The name has it all, which in Greek means
“renowned, glorious”. He worked his entire life in the
field of mathematics and made revolutionary
contributions to geometry.
2. Pythagoras
The famous ‘Pythagoras theorem’, yes the same one we
have struggled through in our childhood during our
challenging math classes. This genius achieved in his
contributions in mathematics and become the father of
the theorem of Pythagoras. Born is Samos, Greece and
fled off to Egypt and maybe India. This great
mathematician is most prominently known for, what
else but, for his Pythagoras theorem.
3. Archimedes
Archimedes is yet another great talent from the land
of the Greek. He thrived for gaining knowledge in
mathematical education and made various contributions.
He is best known for antiquity and the invention of
compound pulleys and screw pump.
4. Thales of Miletus
He was the first individual to whom a mathematical
discovery was attributed. He’s best known for his work
in calculating the heights of pyramids and the distance
of the ships from the shore using geometry.
5. Aristotle
Aristotle had a diverse knowledge over various areas
including mathematics, geology, physics, metaphysics,
biology, medicine and psychology. He was a pupil of
Plato therefore it’s not a surprise that he had a vast
knowledge and made contributions towards Platonism.
Tutored Alexander the Great and established a library
which aided in the production of hundred of books.
6. Diophantus
He was a Hellenistic Greek mathematician and was best
known as the father of algebra and attributed to a
series of books. His equations can be defined as
polynomial equations in several unknowns. The
compilations of his books were called Arithmetica.
7. Eratosthenes
He’s best known as the person who calculated the
circumference of the earth, also the first one to
calculate the tilt of the Earth’s axis. Both of the
calculations were remarkably accurate, therefore he
became world famous for his incredibly accurate
calculations.
8. Hipparchus
The intelligent and perspicacious Hipparchus, ancient
Greek mythologist made many mathematical
contributions throughout his lifetime. He was the
founder of trigonometry and the first to develop a
reliable method to predict solar eclipses. He possessed
the first mathematical trigonometric table.
9. Hero of Alexandria
He described a method for iteratively computing the
square root of a number. This method is known as the
Hero’s formula in today’s world, thereby gaining
became more famously known as the ‘Hero of
Alexandria’.
10. Ptolemy
Ptolemy was a famous mathematician, astronomer,
geographer, astrologer and a poet of a single epigram in
Greek Anthology.
The author/writer and mathematician took the
advantage of his knowledge over the two fields to write
several scientific researches. The Great treatise is one
of his renowned works now known as Almagest
11. Xenocrates
Xenocrates of Chalcedon was a Greek philosopher,
mathematician, and leader (scholarch) of the Platonic
Academy from 339/8 to 314/3 BC.
Xenocrates is known to have written a book on
numbers, theory of numbers and geometry. He had the
unique talent of calculating the syllables out of an
alphabet. One attempted to find the total number of
syllables that could be made from the letters of the
alphabet.
12. Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras gave a number of novel scientific accounts
of natural phenomena. Due to his exceptional knowledge
over mathematics and astronomy, he produced the
correct explanation of eclipses and description of the
sun as a fiery mass larger than the Peloponnese. He
also explained meteors and rainbows.
13. Hypatia
Hypaitia of Alexandria was the daughter of a
mathematician and took her father as an inspiration to
become a mathematician herself. Not only was she a
mathematician but a philosopher as well. She taught as
the head at a school, her subject was the knowledge of
Plato and Aristotle. She is the first woman to make
valuable contributions in the field of mathematics.
Hypaitia was the first woman to take the bold step to
pursue with her dreams and became an inspiration to
many young women who became the world’s most
famous geniuses ever.
14. Antiphon
A
ntiphon was the first to give an upper and lower bound
for the values of Pi by inscribing and then
circumscribing a polygon around a circle and finally
proceeding to calculate the polygons areas. The method
was applied to squaring the circle. He made
comprehensive changes in the world of mathematics
through his profound knowledge over the subject such
that is known and applied in the modern day.
15. Diocles
Diocles was a philosopher, priest, an emperor,
mathematician and geometer. This famous
mathematician was most popularly known for his work in
the sub classification of geometry. His name is
associated with the geometric curve called the Cissoid
of Diocles. This method was used in solving the problem
of doubling the cube.
