Michael M Dediu

Newton, Benjamin Franklin, and Gauss Michael M Dediu

Three of the greatest personalities of the world, who had a major impact on our civilization, are Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin and Carl Friedrich Gauss. All three have important contributions in physics, with Newton having laid the foundations of classical mechanics, making remarkable contributions to optics, and, together with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, developing the infinitesimal calculus, Benjamin Franklin having discoveries and theories regarding electricity, inventing the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, founding the University of Pennsylvania, and being one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and Gauss making significant contributions to number theory, algebra, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, mechanics, electrostatics, magnetic fields, astronomy, matrix theory and optics, and is referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum ("the foremost of mathematicians"). The fascinating lives of these famous people have also other common elements besides physics: from a time perspective, the last 20 years of Newton are in the same time period with the first 20 years of Franklin, and the last 13 years of Franklin are in the same time with the first 13 years of Gauss, Newton and Gauss are very important mathematicians, and Franklin and Gauss received the same prestigious Copley Medal from the Royal Society in London, at an interval of 85 years. This book for the general public is focused on these influential personalities, offering, in a chronological order, a variety of relevant information not only about them, but also about numerous other personalities and important events. There are also over 120 attractive and historic photographs. The more you read, the more you'll love it!