# who would you consider the 3 greatest mathematicians of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792 "2015-01-24T21:52:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@thanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thanatic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/1 "2015-01-24T21:52:08Z")
of course these questions are always subjective, and math is such a diverse field…but if you had to give an answer…who would you list as the top 3 greatest mathematicians in history, in your opinion ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/2 "2015-01-24T21:55:20Z")
[Nikolai Lobachevsky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobachevsky_%28song%29), the greatest who ever got chalk on his coat. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/3 "2015-01-24T22:05:21Z")
Gauss and two other people. ---
**Author:** ![thanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@thanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thanatic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/4 "2015-01-24T22:06:44Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Gauss and two other people. lol:D ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/5 "2015-01-24T22:09:47Z")
[How](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=724352) [many](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719234) [times](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=717853) [are](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684114) [you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685459) [going](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689456) [to](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719907) [ask](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721888) [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747260)? ---
**Author:** ![thanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@thanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thanatic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/6 "2015-01-24T22:19:11Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > [How](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=724352) [many](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719234) [times](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=717853) [are](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684114) [you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685459) [going](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689456) [to](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719907) [ask](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721888) [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747260)? i forgot about the other questions i have asked…that was back in april/may and i forgot alot… the questions seem different from each other enough…so i dont see whats wrong ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/7 "2015-01-24T23:18:10Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > [How](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=724352) [many](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719234) [times](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=717853) [are](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684114) [you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685459) [going](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689456) [to](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719907) [ask](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721888) [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747260)? Dude likes to talk about mathematicians and scientists. What’s the big deal? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/8 "2015-01-24T23:33:27Z")
I am a little surprised no one said Newton right out of the gate. As someone who never even took calculus, what am I missing here? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/9 "2015-01-24T23:46:53Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I am a little surprised no one said Newton right out of the gate. As someone who never even took calculus, what am I missing here? Agreed. Without weighing in on the other two, I think the top three would have to include Newton. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/10 "2015-01-25T00:53:47Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I am a little surprised no one said Newton right out of the gate. As someone who never even took calculus, what am I missing here? Newton is arguably the greatest physicist (or even scientist) of all time. He was certainly a great mathematician as well, but his contributions in physics probably saved the scientific world a generation or more, while his contributions in math may not have saved much time at all (Leibnitz invented calculus independently, about the same time as Newton, and his notation was the one that caught on). ---
**Author:** ![thanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@thanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thanatic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/11 "2015-01-25T00:59:52Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Newton is arguably the greatest physicist (or even scientist) of all time. He was certainly a great mathematician as well, but his contributions in physics probably saved the scientific world a generation or more, while his contributions in math may not have saved much time at all (Leibnitz invented calculus independently, about the same time as Newton, and his notation was the one that caught on). yeah, newton would probably be the general, almost majority, consensus among scientists for “greatest physicist ever” and “greatest scientist ever” Mathematics though is tricky…but if i remember isn’t traditionally the 3 greatest mathematicians are Archimedes, Gauss, Newton ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/12 "2015-01-25T02:23:03Z")
Gauss, Pascal, Laplace. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/13 "2015-01-25T02:42:51Z")
I admit I know nothing about math but Joseph Fourier gets at least one vote from me just because Fourier transforms blow my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/14 "2015-01-25T02:49:57Z")
Roger Penrose deserves an honorable mention. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/15 "2015-01-25T03:09:14Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I am a little surprised no one said Newton right out of the gate. As someone who never even took calculus, what am I missing here? You needn’t knock yourself for never having taken calculus. Newton never took calculus either. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/16 "2015-01-25T03:41:33Z")
Descartes Newton Von Neuman ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/17 "2015-01-25T04:06:02Z")
How about [Euler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler)? Or [Ramanujan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan), though he gets a lot of credit from how he learned math—essentially self-taught, IIRC. Then there’s [Erdős](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s) ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/18 "2015-01-25T04:12:25Z")
I was going to go Euclid (father of geometry), Euler (more things named after him than you can shake a stick at) and Fermat (proved an enormous amount of theorems). I’m a bit miffed at myself for not thinking of Gauss (he probably deserved it more than Fermat), but I dismissed Newton as more of a Physicist than a Mathematician, Calculus aside. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/19 "2015-01-25T04:38:31Z")
I’d probably go with Newton, Euler, and Gauss. Hilbert and Cantor are up there too. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792/20 "2015-01-25T08:51:00Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I am a little surprised no one said Newton right out of the gate. As someone who never even took calculus, what am I missing here? Newton and Einstein were two choices preceded by Kepler. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-consider-the-3-greatest-mathematicians-of-all-time/710792.md?page=2)