Father of Mathematics?

Who is the Father of Mathematics?

The Father of Mathematics is Archimedes.

There are many people who are considered to be the father of mathematics. Thales was one of them. He was mainly known as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. Thales used geometry to solve problems; and was the first true mathematician and individual to whom a mathematical discovery has been attributed. However, Archimedes is widely considered to be the “Father of Mathematics.”

Archimedes was born in 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily, in the colony of Magna Graecia. He died at the age of 75 and is buried in Syracuse. By profession, he was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. His father was Phildias, who was an astronomer about whom nothing is known.

He was best known for his discovery of the relation between the plane and quantity of a sphere and its restricting cylinder, for his formulation of a hydrostatic principle, i.e. Archimedes’ principle and for creating the Archimedes screw (a device for raising water). The tomb of Archimedes is famous for it depiction of his famous diagram, a sphere in a cylinder of the exact height and diameter. The famous word ‘Eureka’ is originally attributed to Archimedes, for the invention of measuring the volume of an object with an irregular shape. Mostly known as inventor of mechanical devices, we cannot ignore Archimedes' contribution to Mathematics. René Descartes is widely known as the “Father of Modern Mathematics”.