Scienceאמיר אקסל

Amir Aczel

Amir Aczel was an Israeli-born American lecturer in mathematics and the history of science, and an author of popular science books.

1950 to 2015The book Fermat's Last TheoremPopular science writing on mathematicsTeaching history of mathematics

Born: 6 November 1950, Haifa
Died: 26 November 2015, Nîmes
Occupation: mathematician, historian, university teacher
Education: University of California, Berkeley, University of Oregon, Hebrew Reali School

Amir Aczel was born in 1950 in Haifa

Amir Aczel was born in Haifa on November 6, 1950. He graduated from the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa in 1969.

He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a BA in mathematics in 1975 and a Master of Science in 1976. He later received a PhD in statistics from the University of Oregon. In 1984 he married Debra, and he had a daughter and a stepdaughter.

Aczel taught mathematics at universities in California, Alaska, Massachusetts, Italy and Greece. As a professor at Bentley College in Massachusetts, he taught statistics and the history of science and mathematics. He wrote two statistics textbooks and several books on mathematics and science for general readers.

His book Fermat's Last Theorem was a bestseller in the United States and was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004 and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University in 2007. He died of cancer in Nîmes, France, in 2015.

Amir Aczel's life in 8 milestones

1950
Born in Haifa.
1969
Graduated from the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa.
1975
Earned a BA in mathematics at Berkeley.
1976
Received a Master of Science.
2003
Became a research fellow at Boston University's Center for Philosophy and History of Science.
2004
Received a Guggenheim Fellowship.
2007
Was a visiting scholar in the history of science at Harvard.
2015
Published Finding Zero and died in Nîmes, France.