Editing Riemann’s Collected Works

David E. Rowe ()
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David E. Rowe: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Institut für Mathematik

Chapter 13 in Bernhard Riemann: His Life and Wondrous Mathematical Legacy, 2026, pp 299-333 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This closing chapter deals with the role of Riemann's Collected Works in anchoring his legacy. The story of how this volume came about is the main theme of the chapter, which takes us back to the events described at the end of Chapter 4. Initially, no thought was given to the idea of making use of everything in Riemann's scientific estate. Elise Riemann, his widow, first asked Dedekind to go through her husband's papers to see what could be salvaged for publication. At that time, Wilhelm Weber was trying to maintain some modicum of control over the Gauss edition. This was an ongoing project of the Göttingen Royal Society, which aimed to publish seven volumes based on Gauss's published and unpublished works. By the early 1870s, Riemann's former rival Ernst Schering had largely seized control of this project, which meant that Alfred Clebsch, Riemann's successor, never had a role in this editorial work. Weber apparently reconciled himself to these circumstances, but decided to pursue another plan. In agreement with Frau Riemann, Weber recruited Clebsch to prepare a full edition of Riemann's Collected Works, relying on Dedekind's help. This project was already well on track when Clebsch suddenly died in November 1872. Weber then tried to recruit Carl Neumann, but he eventually declined, at which point Dedekind turned to Heinrich Weber in 1874. Drawing on extant personal correspondence between Dedekind and Weber, this chapter describes their mutual efforts to pull together the 30 papers in Riemann's Werke, 12 of which had never before been published. The resulting volume also contains a variety of philosophical writings, some highly speculative, others based on mathematical elaborations of Riemann's physical ideas. Capping it off, one finds Dedekind's biographical essay, which he based on sources and information imparted to him by the Riemann family. This mini-biography has ever since served as the principal source for the events of Riemann's life. The final section in this chapter recounts the circumstances that led to three subsequent editions of Riemann's Collected Works, the last of which appeared in 1990. These reveal the importance of what Richard Dedekind and Heinrich Weber achieved for the long-term recognition of Riemann's legacy.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-25457-3_13

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-25457-3_13

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