Paul Cohen was an American mathematician known for his significant contributions to set theory and mathematical logic. He is best known for developing the technique of forcing, which he used to prove the independence of the Continuum Hypothesis from the standard axioms of set theory. This groundbreaking work earned him the National Medal of Science in 1964. Cohen was born on April 2, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. He completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University in 1958. Throughout his career, he held positions at various prestigious institutions, including Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley, influencing many students and researchers in mathematics.