Biography – Cantor's Archive

Kronecker

Kronecker, God and the Integers

Natural numbers were created by God, everything else is the work of men — Kronecker (1823–1891).

Poincaré

Poincaré’s Philosophy of Mathematics

Was his philosophy of mathematics underrated?

Volpin

The Beautiful Consistency of Mathematics — Alexander Yessenin-Volpin

Mathematics is often believed to bring people to madness. We hear many stories like those about Gödel, Cantor, Nash, and Grothendieck, describing geniuses haunted by insanity that is developing along with their mathematics. And there is something to it. A certain psychologist said that A paranoid person is irrationally rational.

Euler

Infinity in Numbers — Leonhard Euler

This is a story about one of the greatest minds in history, and about the mysteries and beauty surrounding his legacy. The story is about Leonhard Euler (1707–1783).

Hardy

G. H. Hardy — Rigorous & Shy

Beauty is the first test: There is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics. — GH Hardy in A Mathematician’s Apology

Wald

Survivorship Bias: The Mathematician Who Helped Win WWII

The legend of Abraham Wald

Halley

Transits & Transactions: The Genius of Edmond Halley

In both the scientific and wider community, the name of Edmond Halley is almost exclusively associated with his eponymous comet. This, however, overlooks Halley’s other contributions to the scientific world.

Abel

The Mozart of Mathematics — Niels Henrik Abel

“Although Abel shared with many mathematicians a complete lack of musical talent, I will not sound absurd if I compare his kind of…

Biography

A Titan Among Men, Ron Graham

An Ode to the Beloved Mathematician

Gödel

Kurt Gödel’s Brilliant Madness

Hungarian polymath John von Neumann (1903–1957) once wrote that Kurt Gödel was “absolutely irreplaceable” and “in a class by himself”.

Biography

Interview with Mathematician Ken Ono

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Ken Ono, one of the most brilliant Mathematicians in the world. Not only has he made huge…

Grothendieck

The Anarchist Abstractionist — Who was Alexander Grothendieck?

Mathematician Alexander Grothendieck was born in 1928 to anarchist parents who left him to spend the majority of his formative years with foster parents.