MATHEMATICIANS from Netherlands

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Dutch Mathematicians of all time. This list of famous Dutch Mathematicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Dutch Mathematicians.

1. Willebrord Snellius (1580 - 1626)

With an HPI of 65.22, Willebrord Snellius is the most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 43 different languages on wikipedia.

Willebrord Snellius (born Willebrord Snel van Royen) (13 June 1580 – 30 October 1626) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, commonly known as Snell. His name is usually associated with the law of refraction of light known as Snell's law. The lunar crater Snellius is named after Willebrord Snellius. The Royal Netherlands Navy has named three survey ships after Snellius, including a currently-serving vessel.

2. Willem de Sitter (1872 - 1934)

With an HPI of 59.83, Willem de Sitter is the 2nd most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Willem de Sitter (6 May 1872 – 20 November 1934) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. The De Sitter universe is a cosmological model named after him.

3. L. E. J. Brouwer (1881 - 1966)

With an HPI of 59.17, L. E. J. Brouwer is the 3rd most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Luitzen Egbertus Jan "Bertus" Brouwer (27 February 1881 – 2 December 1966) was a Dutch mathematician and philosopher who worked in topology, set theory, measure theory and complex analysis. Regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, he is known as one of the founders of modern topology, particularly for establishing his fixed-point theorem and the topological invariance of dimension. Brouwer also became a major figure in the philosophy of intuitionism, a constructivist school of mathematics which argues that math is a cognitive construct rather than a type of objective truth. This position led to the Brouwer–Hilbert controversy, in which Brouwer sparred with his formalist colleague David Hilbert. Brouwer's ideas were subsequently taken up by his student Arend Heyting and Hilbert's former student Hermann Weyl. In addition to his mathematical work, Brouwer also published the short philosophical tract Life, Art, and Mysticism (1905).

4. Isaac Beeckman (1588 - 1637)

With an HPI of 58.76, Isaac Beeckman is the 4th most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Isaac Beeckman (10 December 1588 – 19 May 1637) was a Dutch philosopher and scientist, who, through his studies and contact with leading natural philosophers, may have "virtually given birth to modern atomism".

5. Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (1903 - 1996)

With an HPI of 56.07, Bartel Leendert van der Waerden is the 5th most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (Dutch: [ˈbɑrtə(l) ˈleːndərt fɑn dər ˈʋaːrdə(n)]; 2 February 1903 – 12 January 1996) was a Dutch mathematician and historian of mathematics.

6. Gemma Frisius (1508 - 1555)

With an HPI of 55.56, Gemma Frisius is the 6th most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Gemma Frisius (; born Jemme Reinerszoon; December 9, 1508 – May 25, 1555) was a Dutch physician, mathematician, cartographer, philosopher, and instrument maker. He created important globes, improved the mathematical instruments of his day and applied mathematics in new ways to surveying and navigation. Gemma's rings, an astronomical instrument, are named after him. Along with Gerardus Mercator and Abraham Ortelius, Frisius is often considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography, and significantly helped lay the foundations for the school's golden age (approximately 1570s–1670s).

7. Thomas Joannes Stieltjes (1856 - 1894)

With an HPI of 53.11, Thomas Joannes Stieltjes is the 7th most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Thomas Joannes Stieltjes ( STEEL-chəz, Dutch: [ˈtoːmɑ ˈstiltɕəs]; 29 December 1856 – 31 December 1894) was a Dutch mathematician. He was a pioneer in the field of moment problems and contributed to the study of continued fractions. The Thomas Stieltjes Institute for Mathematics at Leiden University, dissolved in 2011, was named after him, as is the Riemann–Stieltjes integral.

8. Hendrik C. van de Hulst (1918 - 2000)

With an HPI of 51.89, Hendrik C. van de Hulst is the 8th most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Hendrik Christoffel "Henk" van de Hulst (19 November 1918 – 31 July 2000) was a Dutch astronomer. In 1944, while a student in Utrecht, he predicted the existence of the 21 cm hyperfine line of neutral interstellar hydrogen. After this line was discovered, he participated, with Jan Oort and Lex Muller, in the effort to use radio astronomy to map out the neutral hydrogen in our galaxy, which first revealed its spiral structure. Motivated by the scattering in cosmic dust, he studied light scattering by spherical particles and wrote his doctoral thesis on the topic, subsequently formulating the anomalous diffraction theory. He spent most of his career at Leiden University, retiring in 1984. He published widely in astronomy, and dealt with the solar corona, and interstellar clouds. After 1960 he was a leader in international space research projects. In 1956 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

9. Willem 's Gravesande (1688 - 1742)

With an HPI of 51.71, Willem 's Gravesande is the 9th most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (26 September 1688 – 28 February 1742) was a Dutch mathematician and natural philosopher, chiefly remembered for developing experimental demonstrations of the laws of classical mechanics and the first experimental measurement of kinetic energy. As professor of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy at Leiden University, he helped to propagate Isaac Newton's ideas in Continental Europe.

10. Auguste Kerckhoffs (1835 - 1903)

With an HPI of 51.59, Auguste Kerckhoffs is the 10th most famous Dutch Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Auguste Kerckhoffs (19 January 1835 – 9 August 1903) was a Dutch linguist and cryptographer in the late 19th century.