Mamikon Mnatsakanian

Mamikon A. Mnatsakanian (1942–2021) (Armenian: Մամիկոն Մնացականյան) was an Armenian physicist. In 1959, he discovered a new proof of the Pythagorean theorem.[1]

He received a Ph.D. in physics in 1969 from Yerevan State University, where he became professor of astrophysics. As an undergraduate he specialized in the development of geometric methods for solving calculus problems by a visual approach that makes no use of formulas, which he later developed into his system of visual calculus.

He was a Project Associate at Project Mathematics! at the California Institute of Technology.

With co-author Tom Apostol, he won the Paul R. Halmos – Lester R. Ford Award given by the Mathematical Association of America for author excellence, in 2005, 2008, and 2010.

When Apostol met Mamikon he wrote, "As a teacher of calculus for more than 50 years and as an author of a couple of textbooks on the subject, I was stunned to learn that many standard problems in calculus can be easily solved by an innovative visual approach that makes no use of formulas."[2]

In 2010, he was nominated by Caltech for the Ambartsumians International Prize, awarded annually by the President of Armenia, for his contributions in the field of theoretical astrophysics.[3]

The book, New Horizons in Geometry,[4] the result of 15 years of collaboration between Tom Apostol and Mamikon, has been praised for its originality and clarity.[5]