Tullio Levi-Civita's most crucial contribution to mathematics lay in his development of tensor calculus (originally called absolute differential calculus). This new calculus had a widespread effect. Although Albert Einstein's theory of relativity depended on its development, it had many mathematical applications. Related to his tensor calculus, Levi-Civita developed theorems about the curvature of spaces and Riemannian geometry's covariant differentiation. Levi-Civita also propagated work in pure geometry, hydrodynamics, engineering, celestial and analytical mechanics. In addition, Levi-Civita was a prolific author of more than 200 publications as well as a gifted and well-liked teacher.

Levi-Civita was born on March 29, 1873, in Padua, Italy. He was the son of Giacomo Levi-Civita, a lawyer and senator. Educated in his hometown, Levi-Civita was an outstanding student in secondary school there. He also studied at the University of Padua from 1891 to 1895, under the tuteledge of Gregario Ricci Curbastro. Levi-Civita received his BA in 1894, and published...