Jakob Bernoulli (1654–1705) Jakob Bernoulli was so impressed by the way the equiangular spiral reproduces itself under various transformations that he asked that such a spiral be engraved on his tombstone along with the words Eadem mutata resurgo (‘I shall arise the same, though changed’). His tombstone can still be seen in Basel.

Richard Dedekind (1831–1916) In 1904 an academic calendar appeared in which the birth and death dates of various mathematicians were recorded. September 4, 1899 was given as the day of Dedekind’s death. Dedekind wrote to the publisher of the calendar, saying that whilst the September 4 might be correct, the year definitely was not, for on that day he was in the best of health! In fact, the calendar turned out to be completely wrong, for Dedekind died on February 12, 1916.

Links and further reading To find out when mathematicians were born, go to http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.uk/~history/Day_files/Year.html Eves, H., An Introduction to the History of Mathematics, (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969) Eves, H., In Mathematical Circles, (Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, 1969). Eves, H., Mathematical Circles Revisited, (Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, (1969).