The French mathematician Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) initiated modern combinatorial topology and made lasting contributions to mathematical analysis, celestial mechanics, and the philosophy of science.

Henri Poincaré was born at Nancy on April 29, 1854. His father was a physician. Henri attended elementary school and the lycée in Nancy and entered the École Polytechnique in Paris at the age of 18. There he demonstrated his brilliance in mathematics and also his phenomenal memory. Although his eyesight was poor, he never took notes in class, and after reading a book he could recall the page on which any statement occurred.

Strangely enough, at this time Poincaré seems not to have fathomed his own mathematical power, for in 1875 he entered the School of Mines with the intention of becoming an engineer. But 3 years later he qualified as a mining engineer and earned his doctorate of mathematical sciences...