Henri Poincaré
1854–1912 · French · Victorian Era / Belle Époque
Known for: Last universalist mathematician who pioneered topology, chaos theory, and came close to relativity
Henri Poincare was the last mathematician who contributed to virtually every branch of the field. He pioneered topology, made foundational contributions to celestial mechanics, and independently discovered much of special relativity (parallel to Einstein). His three-body problem work laid foundations for chaos theory.
He was one of the few mathematicians who could communicate brilliantly to the public. His philosophy of science books were bestsellers.
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