Introduction to Part VI

David E. Rowe
Additional contact information
David E. Rowe: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Institut für Mathematik

Chapter 33 in A Richer Picture of Mathematics, 2018, pp 395-405 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This last set of essays leaves the terrain of Göttingen, even though its tradition still looms large in the background. Here I present an assortment of mathematical people, some of whom are likely to be known to many readers. The scene now shifts somewhat abruptly to figures in North America during the last century, though usually with an eye cast toward their links with Europe. Curiosity about the roots of research mathematics in the United States – an important chapter in the larger story of American higher education – was a major factor that influenced my early interest in the German universities, particularly Göttingen’s Georgia Augusta. One can hardly exaggerate the strength of that university’s attraction on the nascent American community in the time of Klein and Hilbert, a short period during which foreign mathematicians flocked to Göttingen in droves (Parshall and Rowe 1994). Considering the tiny number of graduate students worldwide at that time, it is simply astounding to realize that between 1898 and 1914 over 60 of them took doctoral degrees under Hilbert’s supervision! Not a few of his students later went on to enjoy distinguished careers as researchers and teachers both in Germany as well as abroad.

Keywords: Mathematical People; American Higher Education; Veblen; Coxeter; Birkhoff (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-319-67819-1_33

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319678191

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-67819-1_33

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().