of Berlin for chemistry. He never attended classes at Budapest,
but did the work in his spare time while pursuing his chemistry
studies. A move to Zürich caused him to change schools, and
at the age of 23 he received his degree in chemical engineering
from Zürich’s Technische Hochschule. Also in 1926, he
received his mathematics doctorate from the University of
Budapest. Not surprisingly, he was called a young genius by
the mathematicians of this time. In 1933 von Neumann went to
Princeton, New Jersey, joining Einstein as one of the original
members of the Institute for Advanced Study. Von Neumann’s
contributions to mathematics include SETtheory, measure
theory, theory of real VARIABLEs, quantum theory, statistical
mechanics, quantum mechanics, operator algebras, game
theory, and computer science.Wallis, John(1616–1703) British mathematician considered second in
importance in the 17th century only behind Newton. Wallis did
not study mathematics in school because it was not considered
an important academic topic. When Wallis was 15, his brother
introduced him to the subject, and he began to read all of the
mathematics books he could find. At the age of 21, in 1638, he
graduated with a bachelor of arts degree. He received his
master’s degree two years later and was ordained, becoming a
chaplain. His switch to mathematics came in a strange event,
when he was in the right place at the right time and
encountered a letter written in code, which he was able to
decipher in a couple of hours. He put his newfound talents to
work for his country, and quickly became an expert in
cryptography. In 1647 he read WILLIAM OUGHTRED’s book
Clavis Mathematicae,and began his passion for mathematics.
Within two years, his genius was recognized and he was
teaching geometry at Oxford and making major contributions
to calculus. In 1655 he published his work on conic sections,
and in 1656 he published Arithmetica Infinitorum (Treatise on
Algebra),which became an instant success. In both works, he
uses his new symbol ∞to represent infinity.Weierstrass, Karl Theodor Wilhelm(1815–97) A German
mathematician known as the father of modern analysis,
Weierstrass had an unhappy education filled with conflict over
what his father wanted him to study, namely business, and what
he wanted to study for himself, mathematics. He barely squeakedBIOGRAPHIES Wallis – Weierstrass
BIOGRAPHIES Wallis – Weierstrass