Background:
Abraham de Moivre, (a good friend of Issac Newton) was born on May 16th 1667 in Vitry (close to Paris), France and died November 27th 1754 in London, England. Although De Moivre attended college and studied privately, it doesn't appear that he received a degree. He apparently served time in prison for about a year for being protestant, after serving his term and with the expulsion of the Huguenots, he emingrated to England. During his late teens, he worked as a private math tutor. In 1697 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. By 1710 he was appointed to the Commission set up by the Royal Society to review the claims of Newton and Leibniz who eventually discovered calculus. de Moivre was a foreigner which makes it difficult to gain an appointment with the Commission, however, due to his friendship with Newton, he was appointed. De Moivre's main income came from tutoring and it's believe that he lived in poverty for his entire life.
Contributions:
Recommended Read
Remarkable Mathematicians Author Ioan profiles 60 famous mathematicians who were born between 1700 and 1910 and provides insight to their remarkable lives and their contributions to the field of math. This text is organized chronologically and provides interesting information about the details of the mathematicians lives.
