Ludolph van Ceulen belongs to the mathematical record as a figure whose results outlasted the problems that prompted them.
The record lists Ludolph van Ceulen as German-Dutch mathematician (*1540 – †1610).
Ludolph van Ceulen was born at Hildesheim in 1540. His recorded nationality is Germany.
Symbolic algebra was taking shape in this period, and printing let a proof reach mathematicians who would never meet its author.
His academic posts were held at Leiden University.
The recorded fields of work are mathematics, mathematical constant and disk.
Mathematics is the one discipline whose results, once proved, are never overturned.
That the work was done from Germany matters: mathematical training, institutions and the language of publication have never been evenly distributed.
Ludolph van Ceulen died in 1610, aged 70. The proofs remain, and a proof does not decay - which is the particular permanence mathematics offers.
Achievements
- Held posts at Leiden University
- Fields: mathematics, mathematical constant and disk
