Abraham de Moivre, French Mathematician
Abraham de Moivre (May 26, 1667 - Novembe 27, 1754) was a French mathematician known for de Moivre's formula, one of those that link complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory. He was a friend of Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley, and James Stirling. Even though he faced religious persecution he remained a "steadfast Christian" throughout his life. De Moivre wrote a book on probability theory, The Doctrine of Chances, said to have been prized by gamblers. He also was the first to postulate the central limit theorem, a cornerstone of probability theory. As he grew older, he became increasingly lethargic and needed longer sleeping hours. A common, though disputable, claim is that he noted he was sleeping an extra 15 minutes each night and correctly calculated the date of his death as the day when the sleep time reached 24 hours, November 27, 1754. And he was right!
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