Leonhard Euler 15 April 1707 - 18 September 1783 Leonhard Euler is said to have been the most prolific mathematician in history. His 866 books and articles represent about one third of the entire body of research on mathematics, theoretical physics, and engineering mechanics published between 1726 and 1800. Euler was born in Basel, Switzerland. His father, a pastor, wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and sent him to the University of Basel to prepare for the ministry, but geometry soon became his favorite subject. Under the teachings of Johann Bernoulli, Euler obtained his father's consent to change his major to mathematics. A