Niels Henrik Abel was a Norwegian mathematician born on August 5, 1802, in Nedre Eiker, Norway. He is best known for his work in algebra, particularly for proving that there is no general solution in radicals to polynomial equations of degree five or higher. This groundbreaking result is now known as the Abel-Ruffini theorem. Abel's contributions to mathematics extended beyond algebra; he also made significant advancements in the theory of functions and elliptic functions. Despite his short life—he died at the age of 26 on April 6, 1829—his work laid the foundation for many areas of modern mathematics, influencing future mathematicians like Carl Friedrich Gauss and Henri Poincaré.