Galois: Biography of a Great Thinker

Évariste Galois was a great mathematician who led a short, tempestuous life. He made fundamental contributions to a number of fields in math, including Galois Theory and Group Theory. Who knows how much he might have accomplished had his life not ended when he was 20 in a duel.

As Isaac Newton said, "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Our "Great Thinkers" playlist celebrates influential thinkers who have changed the world for the better. Click to see the playlist here:

Host: Liliana de Castro
Artwork: Kim Parkhurst
Written & Directed by Michael Harrison
Produced by Kimberly Hatch Harrison

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[ryanmcgowan]

His math discoveries allowed us to play CDs, create QR codes, and see perfect images from outer space.

[Socratica]

*Today is his birthday. He had only 20 of them*.

*French mathematician Evariste Galois* was born on this day in *1811*. His life was full of *promise*...and *turmoil*.  He made major contributions to math while still a teenager, and his work was fundamental for several different fields of math including Galois Theory and Group Theory. *Sadly, he died in a duel when he was only 20*.  Hear about his brief impressive life in our *Great Thinkers* video series. 

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[edw.]

History of Mathematics has always been one of my favorite topics. Thanks for talking about Galois!

[Socratica]

It's so true - imagine if someone like Galois or Mozart had lived until their old age...

[theultimatereductionist]

Careful: by "no general formula", you mean "no formula involving finite algebraic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and root extraction".
For example, Bernd Sturmfels has given a general formula in power series/infinite series for any polynomial.

[riemann]

Actually, Abel was the one that proved the insolvability of the 5th grade equation in it's general form. Galois gave the condition when a specific 5th grade equation is solvable with radicals. This paper started the group theory as we know it nowadays.

[SubradipChakraborty]

I express my gratitude and respect for a teenage and talented genius Mathematician....EVERSTE GALOIS.🙏🙏🙏 from India.

[Socratica]

True, maybe a comfortable long quiet life as a baker or an accountant and no duels would result in no art!

[giorgiobarchiesi]

Nice and interesting video. Compliments for the perfect french pronunciation, which is not so common.

[gavintillman]

My favourite mathematician. Quite a back story. Amazing.

[markus]

Late to the party ^^
But for people interested in the life of Galois and the transformation mathematics underwent at the beginning of the 19th century I can recommend the book "Duel at dawn" by Amir Alexander

[augustofelicianodosanjos]

Um final trágico. Obrigado por todo o conteúdo.

[Elias-djge]

The picture on 3:18 is an illustration to Pushkin's poem "Eugene Onigin".

[Socratica]

Who would you most like to see next? We're making more videos all the time. Stay tuned!

[claytonbenignus]

Ms. Castro has show her skill not only as a Presenter of Abstract Algebra but as a Presenter of Biographies as well. True, I would have liked to have seen some detail of the mysterious Stephanie who was related to the demise of Galois, but this is still a good solid presentation.

I am also finding that Liliana de Castro is also an interesting person who had a past as an Actress. My suspicion is that she was getting Math and History Degrees between her Acting Gigs and that she is probably going for a Doctorate in something like Instructional Technology. Hence my request for her Biography.

PS: I like to see her as a Co-Presenter with Martin Poliakof of Periodic Table of Videos.

[theboombody]

It's really hard to be at the forefront of mathematics. Most people are about 2, 000 years behind. I have a bachelor's and I think I'm still about 200 years behind.

[thewhamji]

You know, a lot of guys only find a women's physical appearance attractive. But this women shows how beautiful a person can be, when the mind and face match in beauty. The world would be so much better, if we held intelligence higher than looks. Physical beauty fades, but if you find an interesting and intelligent partner, your life will be filled with knowledge. And the beauty of learning never fades with time, it only grows stronger!

[victorekaluo]

Hi Socratica. I noticed that around 1:29, you list out the cubic formula and quadratic formula. Could you please post a link that shows both in full? I would really appreciate it if you post the link.

[MrRyanmcmahon]

Cool channel. You may consider doing a video on the great thinker. R.A. Schwaller de lubicz. No one has contributed to Egyptology as much as he has.

[mrnarason]

Along with Abel, a once in 500 years mathematical genius. Like Mozart or Schubert, who also died relatively young, one wonders what things could have been composed or problems solved if they lived 20 or even only 10 years longer.