He lived only 20 years, and mathematicians are still building on what he wrote.

Évariste Galois was born on October 25, 1811, in Bourg-la-Reine, near Paris. As a teenager he tackled one of algebra's oldest puzzles: which equations can be solved with a formula. His answer gave birth to what we now call Galois theory and helped found group theory.

His work was barely understood in his lifetime and was published years after his death. Today, ideas descended from it appear in physics, chemistry and the cryptography that protects your online data.

Which young genius from history fascinates you most?

#TheHistoryDecodedChannel