ABSTRACT
Long before the Bernoulli brothers arrived in St. Petersburg , Peter the Great of Russia had had plans for his realm that were, like himself, bigger than life. At a height of almost seven feet, he towered over everyone else, and he planned for his new capital to be equally impressive. When he began plans for St. Petersburg, his fantastic “Venice of the North,” he hired a bevy of internationally famous architects to plan his city at the swampy mouth of the Neva River, according to a spectacular geometric plan to be carried out through the work of thousands of slave laborers. Although Russia was still a feudal society, Peter the Great had high hopes for a more enlightened kingdom in the future. However, his ambitious plans could not be carried out without a large labor force, and for this project the Tsar’s slaves conveniently provided such a group of workers. Social and economic equality, wonderful ideals that he would love to foster, would have to wait. By the time Euler arrived, St. Petersburg had already become a beautiful city, although the political climate was far from stable.
