David Hilbert (1862-1943) was one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century. He worked on almost every area of mathematics. His famous list of 23 problems has guided the work of the mathematics community since 1900.

Alexander Grothendieck (1928-2014) was the creator of modern algebraic geometry. He introduced and popularized an entirely new way of doing mathematics - instead of problem solving, he developed extremely general theory that submerged and then defeated some of the hardest problems of the day.

Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) was one of the tragic geniuses of the twentieth century. With surprisingly little formal education, his astonishing intuition for formulas took the mathematics world by storm.