Wednesday 19 April 2017

Evariste Galois

Born:  25 October 1811, Bourg-la-Reine, France.

Died: 30 May 1832, Paris, France,  at the age of twenty !!

He was educated for first twelve years at home by his mother, Adélaïde-Marie, who was very well versed in Latin and classical literature. His passion for mathematics surfaced at the age of fourteen. 

Whatever he created in mathematics happened between the age of fourteen and twenty, time period most humans spend figuring out what to do in life ! But for a rather young man with no formal degree in mathematics, these six years were enough to lay the foundation of two big branches of abstract algebra,  Galois theory and group theory !
Some concepts named after Galois are

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_things_named_after_%C3%89variste_Galois

He died of a gun shot in a duel at the age of twenty. His last words to his brother, Alfred were 

Ne pleure pas, Alfred ! J'ai besoin de tout mon courage pour mourir à vingt ans !”
(Don't cry, Alfred! I need all my courage to die at twenty.)

Another genius who hardly got recognized for the degree of talent he had during his rather short life time ! For sure, that much life time was enough to leave a lasting impact on the mathematical world !