Euler obtained his father's consent to change to mathematics after Johann Bernoulli had used his persuasion. He began his study of theology in the autumn of 1723, following his father's wishes, but, although he was to be a devout Christian all his life, he could not find the enthusiasm for the study of theology, Greek and Hebrew that he found in mathematics. In 1723 Euler completed his Master's degree in philosophy having compared and contrasted the philosophical ideas of Descartes and Newton. True, he was very busy and so refused flatly to give me private lessons but he gave me much more valuable advice to start reading more difficult mathematical books on my own and to study them as diligently as I could if I came across some obstacle or difficulty, I was given permission to visit him freely every Sunday afternoon and he kindly explained to me everything I could not understand. I soon found an opportunity to be introduced to a famous professor Johann Bernoulli. Euler's own account given in his unpublished autobiographical writings, see, is as follows:. Johann Bernoulli soon discovered Euler's great potential for mathematics in private tuition that Euler himself engineered. He entered the University in 1720, at the age of 14, first to obtain a general education before going on to more advanced studies. Euler's father wanted his son to follow him into the church and sent him to the University of Basel to prepare for the ministry. However his interest in mathematics had certainly been sparked by his father's teaching, and he read mathematics texts on his own and took some private lessons. This school was a rather poor one, by all accounts, and Euler learnt no mathematics at all from the school.

Leonhard was sent to school in Basel and during this time he lived with his grandmother on his mother's side.

Paul Euler had, as we have mentioned, some mathematical training and he was able to teach his son elementary mathematics along with other subjects. Their son Leonhard Euler was born in Basel, but the family moved to Riehen when he was one year old and it was in Riehen, not far from Basel, that Leonard was brought up. Paul Euler became a Protestant minister and married Margaret Brucker, the daughter of another Protestant minister. In fact Paul Euler and Johann Bernoulli had both lived in Jacob Bernoulli's house while undergraduates at Basel. Paul Euler had studied theology at the University of Basel and had attended Jacob Bernoulli's lectures there. Biography Leonhard Euler's father was Paul Euler.

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