Elements of Algebra

xii EULER. laborious students, afford very scanty materials for biography; little more than a journal of studies and a catalogue of publications: but curiosity may find ample compensation in surveying the character of his mind. An object of such magnitude, so far elevated above the ordinary range of human intellect, cannot be approached without reverence, nor nearly inspected, perhaps, without some degree of presumption. Should an apology be necessary, therefore, for attempting the following estimate of Euler's character, let it be considered, that we can neither feel that admiration, nor offer that homage, which is worthy of genius, unless, aiming at something more than the dazzled sensations of mere wonder, we subject it to actual examination, and compare it with the standards of human nature in general. Whoever is acquainted with the memoirs of those great men, to whom the human race is indebted for the progress of knowledge, must have perceived, that, while mathematical genius is distinct from the other departments of intellectual excellence, it likewise admits in itself of much diversity. The subjects of its speculation are become so extensive and so various, especially in modern times, and present so many interesting aspects, that it is natural for a person, whose talents are of this cast, to devote his principal curiosity and attention to particular views of the science. When this happens, the faculties of the mind acquire a superior facility of operation, with respect to the objects