Ebook: Mathematics in Berlin

This little book is conceived as a service to mathematicians attending the 1998 International Congress of Mathematicians in Berlin. It presents a comprehensive, condensed overview of mathematical activity in Berlin, from Leibniz almost to the present day (without, however, including biographies of living mathematicians). Since many towering figures in mathematical history worked in Berlin, most of the chapters of this book are concise biographies. These are held together by a few survey articles presenting the overall development of entire periods of scientific life at Berlin. Overlaps between various chapters and differences in style between the chap­ ters were inevitable, but sometimes this provided opportunities to show different aspects of a single historical event - for instance, the Kronecker-Weierstrass con­ troversy. The book aims at readability rather than scholarly completeness. There are no footnotes, only references to the individual bibliographies of each chapter. Still, we do hope that the texts brought together here, and written by the various authors for this volume, constitute a solid introduction to the history of Berlin mathematics.

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This book is a font of information for readers interested in the mathematical past and present of Berlin. It presents a comprehensive, condensed overview of mathematical activity in Berlin, beginning with the foundation of the Academy by Leibniz and carrying over almost to the present day. Many towering figures in mathematical history worked in Berlin, and thus most of the chapters of this book are essentially concise biographies of these luminaries. The presentations are held together and complemented by a few articles examining the overall development of entire periods of scientific life at Berlin. Chapters cover the foundation of the University of Berlin, the "Golden Age" of mathematics (spanning the second half of the 19th century), the Nazi period, the development of mathematics in East and West Berlin during the political division of the city, and the merging of the formerly separated mathematical communities with the reunification of Germany.

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This book is a font of information for readers interested in the mathematical past and present of Berlin. It presents a comprehensive, condensed overview of mathematical activity in Berlin, beginning with the foundation of the Academy by Leibniz and carrying over almost to the present day. Many towering figures in mathematical history worked in Berlin, and thus most of the chapters of this book are essentially concise biographies of these luminaries. The presentations are held together and complemented by a few articles examining the overall development of entire periods of scientific life at Berlin. Chapters cover the foundation of the University of Berlin, the "Golden Age" of mathematics (spanning the second half of the 19th century), the Nazi period, the development of mathematics in East and West Berlin during the political division of the city, and the merging of the formerly separated mathematical communities with the reunification of Germany.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Mathematics at the Prussian Academy of Sciences 1700–1810....Pages 1-8
Mathematics in Berlin, 1810–1933....Pages 9-26
Augustus Leopold Crelle, 1780–1855....Pages 27-32
Gustav Peter Lejeune Dirichlet....Pages 33-39
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi....Pages 41-48
Jacob Steiner and Synthetic Geometry....Pages 49-54
Gotthold Eisenstein....Pages 55-60
Kummer and Kronecker....Pages 61-69
Weierstrass and some members of his circle: Kovalevskaia, Fuchs, Schwarz, Schottky....Pages 71-82
Frobenius, Schur, and the Berlin Algebraic Tradition....Pages 83-96
Erhard Schmidt, John von Neumann....Pages 97-104
Constantin Carath?odory (1873–1950)....Pages 105-109
Richard von Mises....Pages 111-116
Einstein in Berlin....Pages 117-125
The Nazi era: the Berlin way of politicizing mathematics....Pages 127-136
The University of Berlin from Reopening until 1953....Pages 137-141
Helmut Hasse, Hermann Ludwig Schmid and their students in Berlin....Pages 143-149
Freie Universit?t Berlin....Pages 151-160
Mathematics at the Berlin Technische Hochschule/Technische Universit?t....Pages 161-167
Mathematics in Berlin at the Humboldt University: from 1953 until now....Pages 169-176
The Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR....Pages 177-181
Fast Algorithms, Fast Computers: The Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum Berlin (ZIB)....Pages 183-184
Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS)....Pages 185-187
Zentralblatt f?r Mathematik und ihre Grenzgebiete....Pages 189-190
Back Matter....Pages 191-203

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This book is a font of information for readers interested in the mathematical past and present of Berlin. It presents a comprehensive, condensed overview of mathematical activity in Berlin, beginning with the foundation of the Academy by Leibniz and carrying over almost to the present day. Many towering figures in mathematical history worked in Berlin, and thus most of the chapters of this book are essentially concise biographies of these luminaries. The presentations are held together and complemented by a few articles examining the overall development of entire periods of scientific life at Berlin. Chapters cover the foundation of the University of Berlin, the "Golden Age" of mathematics (spanning the second half of the 19th century), the Nazi period, the development of mathematics in East and West Berlin during the political division of the city, and the merging of the formerly separated mathematical communities with the reunification of Germany.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Mathematics at the Prussian Academy of Sciences 1700–1810....Pages 1-8
Mathematics in Berlin, 1810–1933....Pages 9-26
Augustus Leopold Crelle, 1780–1855....Pages 27-32
Gustav Peter Lejeune Dirichlet....Pages 33-39
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi....Pages 41-48
Jacob Steiner and Synthetic Geometry....Pages 49-54
Gotthold Eisenstein....Pages 55-60
Kummer and Kronecker....Pages 61-69
Weierstrass and some members of his circle: Kovalevskaia, Fuchs, Schwarz, Schottky....Pages 71-82
Frobenius, Schur, and the Berlin Algebraic Tradition....Pages 83-96
Erhard Schmidt, John von Neumann....Pages 97-104
Constantin Carath?odory (1873–1950)....Pages 105-109
Richard von Mises....Pages 111-116
Einstein in Berlin....Pages 117-125
The Nazi era: the Berlin way of politicizing mathematics....Pages 127-136
The University of Berlin from Reopening until 1953....Pages 137-141
Helmut Hasse, Hermann Ludwig Schmid and their students in Berlin....Pages 143-149
Freie Universit?t Berlin....Pages 151-160
Mathematics at the Berlin Technische Hochschule/Technische Universit?t....Pages 161-167
Mathematics in Berlin at the Humboldt University: from 1953 until now....Pages 169-176
The Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR....Pages 177-181
Fast Algorithms, Fast Computers: The Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum Berlin (ZIB)....Pages 183-184
Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS)....Pages 185-187
Zentralblatt f?r Mathematik und ihre Grenzgebiete....Pages 189-190
Back Matter....Pages 191-203
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