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euler & babies
the financial improvement which came from this appointment allowed euler to marry which he did on 7 january 1734, marrying katharina gsell, the daughter of a painter from the st petersburg gymnasium. they had 13 children altogether although only five survived their infancy. euler claimed that he made some of his greatest mathematical discoveries while holding a baby in his arms with other children playing round his feet.
a cataract operation shortly after the fire, still in 1771, restored his sight for a few days but euler seems to have failed to take the necessary care of himself and he became totally blind. because of his remarkable memory he was able to continue with his work on optics, algebra, and lunar motion. amazingly after his return to st petersburg (when euler was 59) he produced almost half his total works despite the total blindness.
a remarkable guy! |
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