xvii, 669 pages : 25 cm "This is the first full-scale biography of Leonhard Euler (1707-83), one of the greatest mathematicians and theoretical physicists of all time. In this comprehensive and authoritative account, Ronald Calinger connects the story of Euler's eventful life to the astonishing achievements that place him in the company of Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss. Drawing chiefly on Euler's massive published works and correspondence, which fill more than eighty volumes so far, this biography sets Euler's work in its multilayered context--personal, intellectual, institutional, political, cultural, religious, and social. It is a story of nearly incessant accomplishment, from Euler's fundamental contributions to almost every area of pure and applied mathematics--especially calculus, number theory, notation, optics, and celestial, rational, and fluid mechanics--to his advancements in shipbuilding, telescopes, ballistics, cartography, chronology, and music theory. The narrative takes the reader from Euler's childhood and education in Basel through his first period in St. Petersburg, 1727-41, where he gained a European reputation by solving the Basel problem and systematically developing analytical mechanics. Invited to Berlin by Frederick II, Euler published his famous Introductio in analysin infinitorum, devised continuum mechanics, and proposed a pulse theory of light. Returning to St. Petersburg in 1766, he created the analytical calculus of variations, developed the most precise lunar theory of the time that supported Newton's dynamics, and published the best-selling Letters to a German Princess--all despite eye problems that ended in near-total blindness. In telling the remarkable story of Euler and how his achievements brought pan-European distinction to the Petersburg and Berlin academies of sciences, the book also demonstrates with new depth and detail the central role of mathematics in the Enlightenment." -- Publisher's description Includes bibliographical references (pages 571-623) and index Introduction -- The Swiss years: 1707 to April 1727 -- "Into the paradise of scholars": April 1727 to 1730 -- Departures, and Euler in love: 1730 to 1734 -- Reaching the "inmost heart of mathematics": 1734 to 1740 -- Life becomes rather dangerous: 1740 to August 1741 -- A call to Berlin: August 1741 to 1744 -- "The happiest man in the world": 1744 to 1746 -- The apogee years, I: 1746 to 1748 -- The apogee years, II: 1748 to 1750 -- The apogee years, III: 1750 to 1753 -- Increasing precision and generalization in the mathematical sciences: 1753 to 1756 -- War and estrangement, 1756 to July 1766 -- Return to Saint Petersburg: academy reform and great productivity, July 1766 to 1773 -- Vigorous autumnal years: 1773-1782 -- Toward "a more perfect state of dreaming": 1782 to October 1783