While most of us acknowledge that mathematics is useful, it’s not a subject we appreciate. How many of us could name a famous mathematician? Here’s one: Leonhard Euler (pronounced oiler), a towering mathematical genius and a committed Christian.
Euler was born in Basel, now in Switzerland, in 1707. His father was a pastor in the Reformed Church and his mother was a pastor’s daughter. Euler enrolled at the University of Basel at the age of thirteen, graduating at sixteen. In the hope that he, too, would become a pastor, Euler began studying theology. However, his outstanding mathematical abilities were soon recognised and encouraged by experts. Euler, believing that he could serve God in mathematics, sought – and was granted – parental permission to pursue a new career.
Euler began studying mathematical problems and was soon publishing his results. By his early twenties he had acquired a continent-wide reputation for understanding the deepest complexities of mathematics and successfully applying them.
In 1727 he became a lecturer at the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. Mastering Russian, Euler began teaching and researching on a wide range of theoretical and practical problems, including working with the Imperial Navy and helping map the nation’s vast interior. The new academy faced hostility from both the conservative nobility and the Orthodox Church but Euler, always a peacemaker, simply avoided making enemies and kept working, soon becoming a professor. In 1734 he married Katharina, a Swiss woman working in Saint Petersburg. Their happy marriage was to last for nearly forty years; they had thirteen children, only five of whom survived infancy.
In 1741 Euler, now celebrated across Europe, was head-hunted by King Frederick the Great of Prussia for his new academic centre, the Prussian Academy of Science in Berlin, where Euler was entrusted with an enormous amount of work: producing research publications and supervising engineering projects. In addition, the king asked Euler to oversee the then large French Calvinist Church in Berlin. It was a task he took seriously, reforming Sunday school lessons and encouraging Bible reading.
Euler, a gifted teacher, rejected any condescending attitude to women. He tutored a teenage German princess, writing over two hundred letters to her explaining matters of science and his Christian beliefs. These were published and, in translations, became extraordinarily popular across much of Europe.
The middle of the 18th century saw the Enlightenment values of reason and doubt begin to become popular. Under the influence of people like Voltaire who often visited his court, King Frederick came to prefer the sceptical, flamboyant and fashionable culture of contemporary France. Euler, with his devout faith, modesty and down-to-earth manner and dress, found himself ridiculed by both Frederick and Voltaire.
Increasingly uncomfortable in Berlin and encouraged by the new stability in Russia under Catherine the Great, Euler returned to Saint Petersburg in 1766 where he became head of the academy. His health deteriorated but he continued teaching and researching, maintaining an astonishing output before his death in 1783.
Few of us have the competence to judge Euler as mathematician or scientist. History’s verdict is that he was the greatest mathematician of the 18th century and one of the greats of all time. Euler’s achievements were numerous, diverse and important. He worked in almost every area where mathematics could be used: physics, fluid dynamics, astronomy, map making, engineering, navigation and statistics.
Yet Euler is more than a scientific phenomenon; he is a hero of the faith and let me draw your attention to three things.
First, Euler’s contributions. One awesome indicator of Euler’s achievements is that over a century ago, a project was started to publish everything he ever wrote. Still a few years away from completion, it is anticipated that ultimately it will comprise eighty-four large books, totalling around 35,000 pages. That’s an extraordinary testimony to a heroic amount of hard work.
Second, Euler’s consistency. As the world’s most influential mathematician for fifty years, Euler was in the spotlight. Yet all the accounts speak of his consistent Christian life. As a person, Euler was a modest and sociable man, known for his honesty and humility. In his academic role, Euler was no different: he got alongside others, shunned conflicts and willingly gave others credit for their insights. He was not only a church attender but also a church leader. At home, Euler would gather his wife, children, staff and any students after dinner and have a time of prayer, Bible reading and discussion. He would then read his children Bible passages before they went to bed. Euler believed that God made the universe and that it was his duty and pleasure to seek to find out how it worked.
Finally, Euler’s contentment. Thinking of his poor health and the tragic loss of children it is tempting to speak of his faith providing consolation, yet it did more than this. Euler was a happy man who loved his family and friends. In a life that had grief but not bitterness, he stayed content.
The life of Leonhard Euler is that of an extraordinary man who explored God’s world through the intricacies of mathematics. In his own remarkable way, he delighted in what God had made. May we, in our own way, do likewise.
J.John
Reverend Canon
