The minds behind the numbers
Mathematics has been built up over thousands of years by some remarkable people, and this word search gathers many of them. You'll be finding the ancient Greeks PYTHAGORAS, EUCLID and ARCHIMEDES, the computing pioneers TURING, LOVELACE and BABBAGE, and the puzzle-solver FIBONACCI.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection of surnames from the list, so the roll call changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a longer-word challenge once the diagonals and backwards words appear on Hard.
Pioneers across the ages
From ancient times to the modern day, the words are here. There's HYPATIA of ancient Alexandria, the great GAUSS and EULER, number theorists like FERMAT and RIEMANN, logic pioneers BOOLE and CANTOR, and trailblazers like GERMAIN and NOETHER — alongside LEIBNIZ, HILBERT, GALOIS, LAPLACE, NASH and the self-taught genius RAMANUJAN.
Ideas you still use today
Maths might feel timeless, but every rule was worked out by a real person. PYTHAGORAS gave us the famous theorem about right-angled triangles that builders still use; EUCLID wrote the geometry textbook that was taught for over 2,000 years; and ARCHIMEDES supposedly leapt from his bath shouting 'Eureka!' when he solved a problem about volume. FIBONACCI spotted a number pattern — 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8… — that turns up everywhere in nature, from flower petals to pinecones.
Some of these stories are remarkable. HYPATIA was one of the first known women mathematicians, teaching in ancient Alexandria; Ada LOVELACE wrote the first computer program in the 1800s, long before computers existed; and Alan TURING helped invent the modern computer and cracked wartime codes that helped end the Second World War. Their discoveries power today's phones, games and science — proof that maths is far more than sums. That makes this a great fit for a maths topic or numeracy display.
Great for a maths topic
It's a great fit for a maths topic or numeracy display — we use surnames to keep words short, and Easy mode uses a small grid with no diagonals or reverse words (longer names like PYTHAGORAS appear on Medium and Hard). Play online, print a PDF pack, or use Make Your Own to build a grid from your own list of mathematicians.
Frequently asked questions
Which mathematicians are in the word search?
Great mathematicians across the ages — Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes, Turing, Lovelace, Gauss, Fibonacci and more. Each puzzle uses a fresh selection of surnames.
Does it span ancient and modern maths?
It does — ancient Greeks PYTHAGORAS, EUCLID and ARCHIMEDES, computing pioneers TURING, LOVELACE and BABBAGE, plus FIBONACCI, HYPATIA, GAUSS, EULER, FERMAT, RIEMANN, GERMAIN and NOETHER.
Is it good for a maths topic?
Great fit for a maths topic or numeracy display. We use surnames to keep words short, and Easy mode uses a small grid with no diagonals or reverse words.