Who are considered to be masters of arithmetic geometry? After reading this question I was wondering who are considered to be masters of arithmetic geometry and where can I find the papers which initiated the field arithmetic geometry.  
 A: Arithmetic geometry, as a field in its own right that combines ideas from number theory and algebraic geometry, is a fairly new field, and many of the people that I would regard as the masters are still living, and indeed still active.
The mathematicians that we studied ("we" being the generation of arithemtic geometers and number theorists that I grew up with) include (but are not limited to):
Michael Artin,
Spencer Bloch,
Pierre Deligne,
Gerd Faltings,
Jean-Marc Fontaine,
Benedict (Dick) Gross,
Alexander (Alexandre) Grothendieck,
Haruzo Hida,
Kazuya Kato,
Yasutaka Ihara,
Nick Katz,
Robert Kottwitz,
Robert Langlands,
Barry Mazur,
Michael Rapoport,
Michel Raynaud,
Ken Ribet,
Jean-Pierre Serre,
Andre Weil,
and
Andrew Wiles.
Not all of their writings are equally easy to read (in my experience).   I think that Deligne, Gross, Katz, Mazur, Ribet, and Serre are particularly good mathematicial expositors, and highly recommend their articles as sources from which to learn a wide range of ideas in arithmetic geometry.   
