Notable Mathematicians Posters “A...-B...-”
for classrooms and homeschoolers.

Maria Gaetana Agnesi
Archimedes

Charles Babbage
Benjamin Banneker

Maria Gaetana Agnesi
b. 5-16-1718; Milan, Italy
d. 1-9-1799

Maria Gaetana Agnesi was a child prodigy recognized as a mathematician, and philosopher, and linguist. She is credited with writing the first book discussing both differential and integral calculus and was an honorary member of the faculty at the University of Bologna.

Agnesi can also be considered an activist for her composing and delivering a speech in Latin on a woman's right to education at the age of nine.

A crater on Venus is named in her honor.

Archimedes - Mathematician, Physicist, Engineer, Astronomer, Philosopher
b. 287 BC, Syracuse, Sicily
d. 212 BC, Syracuse, Sicily

Poster Text: “Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth.” -Archimedes, commenting on the lever.

ARCHIMEDES is considered the greatest mathematician and inventor of ancient times. He made important discoveries in geometry, hydrostatics, and mechanics. Much of his work and results were not surpassed for over 1,500 years. Also an outstanding engineer, he formulate Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy and the principle of the lever.

• The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist

Charles Babbage
b. 12-26-1791/2; London, England
d. 10-18-1871

Charles Babbage, frustrated by the tediousness of calculation and the high rate of human error, originated the idea of a programmable computer to mechanically calculate mathematical tables.

Benjamin Banneker
b. 11-9-1731; Baltimore Co., MD
d. 10-9-1806

Benjamin Banneker, called the Sable Astonomer, was a self motivated learner whose basic reading, writing and mathematics skills came from home schoolng and a Quaker school. He complied the ephemeris (information table) for annual almanacs published 1792 through 1797, predicting solar and lunar eclipses, and provided assistance in the planning of the Federal District, which is now Washington, D.C., by making sure the astronomical clock was keeping accurate time.

• more Benjamin Banneker posters

Johann Bernoulli (also known as John or Jean)
b. 7-27-1667; Basel, Switzerland
d. 1-1-1748; Basel

The Bernoulli's were a mathematically brilliant family. John (also known as Johann or Jean), the father, was a mathematician and educator (Euler was his student), and who, along with his brother Jakob (Bernoulli numbers), were among the first to understand the new calculus (introduced as students of Leibniz) and to apply calculus to problems.

John was also the father of mathematician Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) who is remembered for his principle of fluid mechanics stating that “as the speed of a moving fluid increases, the pressure within the fluid decreases” - or why an airplane wing is shaped the way it is.

Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace
b. 12-10-1815; London, England
d. 11-27-1852

Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate daughter of Lord Byron. She received early training as a mathematician and is considered to have written the first computer program in her correspondence with Charles Babbage about his early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine.

• Ada, Countess of Lovelace