The last of my life was spent rebuilding the mathematics community in Göttingen. The University of Göttingen used to be the epicenter of all things mathematical in times before I was appointed professor there. We needed to create something that the greats that were there before, like Bernhard Riemann, Carl Fredrich Gauss, and Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, would be proud to call their grounding place.
In 1890, the Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereingung was formed and I was one of the many founders of this group. In English, it means the German Mathematics Society. The founding and planning of this group was mostly lead by George Cantor, another famous mathematician known for inventing set theory. In today's time, the organization awards the Cantor medal to a mathematician who is associated with the German language. Although not formed in Göttingen, this organization exemplifies my want to grow German mathematics in the city.
Due to my recommendation, I successfully got David Hilbert the other mathematical chair for the university in 1896. David Hilbert was a bright, previous student of mine, hence my want for him to be by my side. Together, we would reform the mathematics in Göttingen and attract mathematicians from around the world. Because of this, there became more open positions for professors and mathematics chairs at the university. By 1904, Carl Runge filled the first professor chair in applied mathematics. Göttingen also started to allow women admittance to the university in 1893 due to me. In fact, I supervised the first doctoral thesis written at Göttingen by a woman. Also during this time, I not only was interested in mathematics teaching at the university level, but interested in all levels of mathematics in Germany. I made a few recommendations for secondary schools to teach differential and integral calculus and function concepts. This recommendation was actually adopted by many countries and is the reason why you have the chance to take calculus in high school.
In 1908, I was elected as president to the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction. During my presidency of the ICMI, the German members were able to publish many volumes on the teaching of mathematics at all levels in Germany. I created a plan to build an mathematical institute in 1909, hoping that I would see my dream in person. However, there was resistance from the guys that had the money, the effects from WWI and inflation ceased it from becoming a reality during my lifetime. In 1929, after my death and generous funds from the Rockefeller Foundation, the building for the Mathematical Institute was built and became a place for mathematicians to congregate. I passed away on June 22, 1925 in Göttingen with many accomplishments, contributions, and publications under my belt.
Sadly, my time with you shall stop at this post as I was only given four posts to discuss my life and contributions to mathematics. I do hope you enjoyed reading about my life and what I did for all levels of mathematics. Please continue your own studies with mathematics and do not let scary proofs stop you from journeying on. Mathematics has been most advanced by those who distinguished themselves by intuition rather than by rigorous proofs.
List of Sources:
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| The founders of Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereingung |
Due to my recommendation, I successfully got David Hilbert the other mathematical chair for the university in 1896. David Hilbert was a bright, previous student of mine, hence my want for him to be by my side. Together, we would reform the mathematics in Göttingen and attract mathematicians from around the world. Because of this, there became more open positions for professors and mathematics chairs at the university. By 1904, Carl Runge filled the first professor chair in applied mathematics. Göttingen also started to allow women admittance to the university in 1893 due to me. In fact, I supervised the first doctoral thesis written at Göttingen by a woman. Also during this time, I not only was interested in mathematics teaching at the university level, but interested in all levels of mathematics in Germany. I made a few recommendations for secondary schools to teach differential and integral calculus and function concepts. This recommendation was actually adopted by many countries and is the reason why you have the chance to take calculus in high school.
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| The plan for the Mathematical Institute in Göttingen, as projected by me in 1909. |
Sadly, my time with you shall stop at this post as I was only given four posts to discuss my life and contributions to mathematics. I do hope you enjoyed reading about my life and what I did for all levels of mathematics. Please continue your own studies with mathematics and do not let scary proofs stop you from journeying on. Mathematics has been most advanced by those who distinguished themselves by intuition rather than by rigorous proofs.
List of Sources:
Felix Klein. (2012). Famous-Mathematicians.com.
Retrieved from http://www.famous-mathematicians.com/felix-klein/
Halstead, G. (1894). Biography: Professor Felix Klein. The American Mathematical Monthly.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2969034
"Klein, Christian Felix." Complete Dictionary of
Scientific Biography. Retrieved from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/klein-christian-felix
O’Connor, J and Robertson, E. (2003). Felix Christian Klein.
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive.
Retrieved from http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Klein.html
Schubring, G. (2000). Felix Klein. The First Century of the Internet Commission Mathematical Instruction
(1908-2008): History of ICMI. Retrieved from
Pictures from Schubring, G
"exemplifies my want to grow German mathematics in the city." My desire to build a center for German mathematicians in the city??
ReplyDelete"David Hilbert (add a comma) the other mathematical chair "
I love the last line of this Tara! Is that a quote from Klein? Nice ending.