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Life and Work of Egbert Brieskorn (1936 – 2013)1
Special volume in honor of the life Journal of Singularities and mathematics of Egbert Brieskorn Volume 18 (2018), 1-28 DOI: 10.5427/jsing.2018.18a LIFE AND WORK OF EGBERT BRIESKORN (1936 – 2013)1 GERT-MARTIN GREUEL AND WALTER PURKERT Brieskorn 2007 Egbert Brieskorn died on July 11, 2013, a few days after his 77th birthday. He was an im- pressive personality who left a lasting impression on anyone who knew him, be it in or out of mathematics. Brieskorn was a great mathematician, but his interests, knowledge, and activities went far beyond mathematics. In the following article, which is strongly influenced by the au- thors’ many years of personal ties with Brieskorn, we try to give a deeper insight into the life and work of Brieskorn. In doing so, we highlight both his personal commitment to peace and the environment as well as his long–standing exploration of the life and work of Felix Hausdorff and the publication of Hausdorff ’s Collected Works. The focus of the article, however, is on the presentation of his remarkable and influential mathematical work. The first author (GMG) has spent significant parts of his scientific career as a graduate and doctoral student with Brieskorn in Göttingen and later as his assistant in Bonn. He describes in the first two parts, partly from the memory of personal cooperation, aspects of Brieskorn’s life and of his political and social commitment. In addition, in the section on Brieskorn’s mathematical work, he explains in detail the main scientific results of his publications. The second author (WP) worked together with Brieskorn for many years, mainly in connection with the Hausdorff project; the corresponding section on the Hausdorff project was written by him. -
Philosophy of Science -----Paulk
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE -----PAULK. FEYERABEND----- However, it has also a quite decisive role in building the new science and in defending new theories against their well-entrenched predecessors. For example, this philosophy plays a most important part in the arguments about the Copernican system, in the development of optics, and in the Philosophy ofScience: A Subject with construction of a new and non-Aristotelian dynamics. Almost every work of Galileo is a mixture of philosophical, mathematical, and physical prin~ a Great Past ciples which collaborate intimately without giving the impression of in coherence. This is the heroic time of the scientific philosophy. The new philosophy is not content just to mirror a science that develops independ ently of it; nor is it so distant as to deal just with alternative philosophies. It plays an essential role in building up the new science that was to replace 1. While it should be possible, in a free society, to introduce, to ex the earlier doctrines.1 pound, to make propaganda for any subject, however absurd and however 3. Now it is interesting to see how this active and critical philosophy is immoral, to publish books and articles, to give lectures on any topic, it gradually replaced by a more conservative creed, how the new creed gener must also be possible to examine what is being expounded by reference, ates technical problems of its own which are in no way related to specific not to the internal standards of the subject (which may be but the method scientific problems (Hurne), and how there arises a special subject that according to which a particular madness is being pursued), but to stan codifies science without acting back on it (Kant). -
Popper, Objectification and the Problem of the Public Sphere
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The Australian National University Popper, Objectification and the Problem of the Public Sphere Jeremy Shearmur1 1. Introduction: World 3 Popper’s approach to philosophy was anti-psychologistic, at least since he wrote The Two Fundamental Problems of the Theory of Knowledge (cf. Popper 2009 [1979; 1930-3]). In his work, anti-psychologism meant not an opposition to the recognition of psychological activity and its significance (in correspondence with Hayek in the 1950s he identified himself as a dualist interactionist), but, rather, an opposition to the reduction of knowledge to psychology. He stressed – in ways that are familiar from Frege and the early Husserl – the non-psychologistic status of logic. And in The Open Society (Popper 1945), with reference to Marx, he stressed his opposition to attempts to offer psychologistic explanations in the social sciences. His own interpretation of ‘methodological individualism’ viewed human action as taking place in social situations. His short papers on the mind-body problem in the 1950s (included in Popper 1963) developed an argument that the descriptive and argumentative functions of language posed a problem for reductionistic accounts of the mind-body relation. While in his ‘Of Clouds and Clocks’ (in Popper 1972), issues concerning what he was subsequently to call ‘world 3’ played an important role in his more systematic treatment of the mind-body problem. As David Miller suggested, Popper called world 3 in to redress the balance of world 1 and world 2 (see Popper 1976b, note 302). -
Simply-Riemann-1588263529. Print
Simply Riemann Simply Riemann JEREMY GRAY SIMPLY CHARLY NEW YORK Copyright © 2020 by Jeremy Gray Cover Illustration by José Ramos Cover Design by Scarlett Rugers All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below. [email protected] ISBN: 978-1-943657-21-6 Brought to you by http://simplycharly.com Contents Praise for Simply Riemann vii Other Great Lives x Series Editor's Foreword xi Preface xii Introduction 1 1. Riemann's life and times 7 2. Geometry 41 3. Complex functions 64 4. Primes and the zeta function 87 5. Minimal surfaces 97 6. Real functions 108 7. And another thing . 124 8. Riemann's Legacy 126 References 143 Suggested Reading 150 About the Author 152 A Word from the Publisher 153 Praise for Simply Riemann “Jeremy Gray is one of the world’s leading historians of mathematics, and an accomplished author of popular science. In Simply Riemann he combines both talents to give us clear and accessible insights into the astonishing discoveries of Bernhard Riemann—a brilliant but enigmatic mathematician who laid the foundations for several major areas of today’s mathematics, and for Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.Readable, organized—and simple. Highly recommended.” —Ian Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Warwick University and author of Significant Figures “Very few mathematicians have exercised an influence on the later development of their science comparable to Riemann’s whose work reshaped whole fields and created new ones. -
Mathematicians Fleeing from Nazi Germany
Mathematicians Fleeing from Nazi Germany Mathematicians Fleeing from Nazi Germany Individual Fates and Global Impact Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze princeton university press princeton and oxford Copyright 2009 © by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Siegmund-Schultze, R. (Reinhard) Mathematicians fleeing from Nazi Germany: individual fates and global impact / Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-12593-0 (cloth) — ISBN 978-0-691-14041-4 (pbk.) 1. Mathematicians—Germany—History—20th century. 2. Mathematicians— United States—History—20th century. 3. Mathematicians—Germany—Biography. 4. Mathematicians—United States—Biography. 5. World War, 1939–1945— Refuges—Germany. 6. Germany—Emigration and immigration—History—1933–1945. 7. Germans—United States—History—20th century. 8. Immigrants—United States—History—20th century. 9. Mathematics—Germany—History—20th century. 10. Mathematics—United States—History—20th century. I. Title. QA27.G4S53 2008 510.09'04—dc22 2008048855 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Sabon Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ press.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 10 987654321 Contents List of Figures and Tables xiii Preface xvii Chapter 1 The Terms “German-Speaking Mathematician,” “Forced,” and“Voluntary Emigration” 1 Chapter 2 The Notion of “Mathematician” Plus Quantitative Figures on Persecution 13 Chapter 3 Early Emigration 30 3.1. The Push-Factor 32 3.2. The Pull-Factor 36 3.D. -
Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach Emigration Of
Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach Report No. 51/2011 DOI: 10.4171/OWR/2011/51 Emigration of Mathematicians and Transmission of Mathematics: Historical Lessons and Consequences of the Third Reich Organised by June Barrow-Green, Milton-Keynes Della Fenster, Richmond Joachim Schwermer, Wien Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze, Kristiansand October 30th – November 5th, 2011 Abstract. This conference provided a focused venue to explore the intellec- tual migration of mathematicians and mathematics spurred by the Nazis and still influential today. The week of talks and discussions (both formal and informal) created a rich opportunity for the cross-fertilization of ideas among almost 50 mathematicians, historians of mathematics, general historians, and curators. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 01A60. Introduction by the Organisers The talks at this conference tended to fall into the two categories of lists of sources and historical arguments built from collections of sources. This combi- nation yielded an unexpected richness as new archival materials and new angles of investigation of those archival materials came together to forge a deeper un- derstanding of the migration of mathematicians and mathematics during the Nazi era. The idea of measurement, for example, emerged as a critical idea of the confer- ence. The conference called attention to and, in fact, relied on, the seemingly stan- dard approach to measuring emigration and immigration by counting emigrants and/or immigrants and their host or departing countries. Looking further than this numerical approach, however, the conference participants learned the value of measuring emigration/immigration via other less obvious forms of measurement. 2892 Oberwolfach Report 51/2011 Forms completed by individuals on religious beliefs and other personal attributes provided an interesting cartography of Italian society in the 1930s and early 1940s. -
Definitions and Nondefinability in Geometry 475 2
Definitions and Nondefinability in Geometry1 James T. Smith Abstract. Around 1900 some noted mathematicians published works developing geometry from its very beginning. They wanted to supplant approaches, based on Euclid’s, which han- dled some basic concepts awkwardly and imprecisely. They would introduce precision re- quired for generalization and application to new, delicate problems in higher mathematics. Their work was controversial: they departed from tradition, criticized standards of rigor, and addressed fundamental questions in philosophy. This paper follows the problem, Which geo- metric concepts are most elementary? It describes a false start, some successful solutions, and an argument that one of those is optimal. It’s about axioms, definitions, and definability, and emphasizes contributions of Mario Pieri (1860–1913) and Alfred Tarski (1901–1983). By fol- lowing this thread of ideas and personalities to the present, the author hopes to kindle interest in a fascinating research area and an exciting era in the history of mathematics. 1. INTRODUCTION. Around 1900 several noted mathematicians published major works on a subject familiar to us from school: developing geometry from the very beginning. They wanted to supplant the established approaches, which were based on Euclid’s, but which handled awkwardly and imprecisely some concepts that Euclid did not treat fully. They would present geometry with the precision required for general- ization and applications to new, delicate problems in higher mathematics—precision beyond the norm for most elementary classes. Work in this area was controversial: these mathematicians departed from tradition, criticized previous standards of rigor, and addressed fundamental questions in logic and philosophy of mathematics.2 After establishing background, this paper tells a story about research into the ques- tion, Which geometric concepts are most elementary? It describes a false start, some successful solutions, and a demonstration that one of those is in a sense optimal. -
Life and Work of Egbert Brieskorn (1936-2013)
Life and work of Egbert Brieskorn (1936 – 2013)1 Gert-Martin Greuel, Walter Purkert Brieskorn 2007 Egbert Brieskorn died on July 11, 2013, a few days after his 77th birthday. He was an impressive personality who left a lasting impression on anyone who knew him, be it in or out of mathematics. Brieskorn was a great mathematician, but his interests, knowledge, and activities went far beyond mathematics. In the following article, which is strongly influenced by the authors’ many years of personal ties with Brieskorn, we try to give a deeper insight into the life and work of Brieskorn. In doing so, we highlight both his personal commitment to peace and the environment as well as his long–standing exploration of the life and work of Felix Hausdorff and the publication of Hausdorff ’s Collected Works. The focus of the article, however, is on the presentation of his remarkable and influential mathematical work. The first author (GMG) has spent significant parts of his scientific career as a arXiv:1711.09600v1 [math.AG] 27 Nov 2017 graduate and doctoral student with Brieskorn in Göttingen and later as his assistant in Bonn. He describes in the first two parts, partly from the memory of personal cooperation, aspects of Brieskorn’s life and of his political and social commitment. In addition, in the section on Brieskorn’s mathematical work, he explains in detail 1Translation of the German article ”Leben und Werk von Egbert Brieskorn (1936 – 2013)”, Jahresber. Dtsch. Math.–Ver. 118, No. 3, 143-178 (2016). 1 the main scientific results of his publications. -
Nazi Rule and Teaching of Mathematics in the Third Reich, Particularly School Mathematics
Oral presentations 863 Nazi Rule and Teaching of Mathematics in the Third Reich, Particularly School Mathematics Reinhard SIEGMUND-SCHULTZE University of Agder, Faculty of Engineering and Science, 4604 Kristiansand, Norway [email protected] Abstract The paper investigates the consequences of the Nazi seizure of power in Germany in 1933 for the teaching of mathematics on several levels, particularly for school mathematics. The roles of the Mathematischer Reichsverband and the F¨orderverein during the political coordination will be investigated. Particular emphasis is put on the reactions by school and research mathematicians, in particular by the leading representative of mathematical didactics, Walther Lietzmann, the research mathematician Georg Hamel, and by the would-be didactician of mathematics, Hugo Dingler. It will be shown that in the choice of the subjects of mathematics teaching, the Nazi rule promoted militaristic as well as racist and eugenicist thinking. Some remarks on the effects of the reform of 1938 conclude the paper. Much emphasis is put on basic dates and literature for further study. 1 Nazi seizure of power, dismissals and “German mathematics” After the Nazis had seized power in Germany in early 1933 there was of course concern among mathematicians and mathematics teachers about the consequences for mathematics both on the university and school levels. The most immediate and visible effect were the dismissals. The purge of school teachers seems to have been on a much lesser scale than the dismissals at the universities: apparently much fewer teachers were affected by the “Aryan paragraph” of the infamous Nazi “Law for the Restoration of the Civil Service” of April 7, 1933.1 One knows of several German-Jewish mathematics teachers who later were murdered in concentration camps,2 and the chances of emigration for teachers were slim. -
Arxiv:1803.02193V1 [Math.HO] 6 Mar 2018 AQE AR IT AZZK EE ENG IHI .KA G
KLEIN VS MEHRTENS: RESTORING THE REPUTATION OF A GREAT MODERN JACQUES BAIR, PIOTR BLASZCZYK, PETER HEINIG, MIKHAIL G. KATZ, JAN PETER SCHAFERMEYER,¨ AND DAVID SHERRY Abstract. Historian Herbert Mehrtens sought to portray the his- tory of turn-of-the-century mathematics as a struggle of modern vs countermodern, led respectively by David Hilbert and Felix Klein. Some of Mehrtens’ conclusions have been picked up by both histo- rians (Jeremy Gray) and mathematicians (Frank Quinn). We argue that Klein and Hilbert, both at G¨ottingen, were not adversaries but rather modernist allies in a bid to broaden the scope of mathematics beyond a narrow focus on arithmetized anal- ysis as practiced by the Berlin school. Klein’s G¨ottingen lecture and other texts shed light on Klein’s modernism. Hilbert’s views on intuition are closer to Klein’s views than Mehrtens is willing to allow. Klein and Hilbert were equally interested in the axiomatisation of physics. Among Klein’s credits is helping launch the career of Abraham Fraenkel, and advancing the careers of Sophus Lie, Emmy Noether, and Ernst Zermelo, all four surely of impeccable modernist credentials. Mehrtens’ unsourced claim that Hilbert was interested in pro- duction rather than meaning appears to stem from Mehrtens’ marx- ist leanings. Mehrtens’ claim that [the future SS-Brigadef¨uhrer] “Theodor Vahlen . cited Klein’s racist distinctions within math- ematics, and sharpened them into open antisemitism” fabricates a spurious continuity between the two figures mentioned and is thus an odious misrepresentation of Klein’s position. arXiv:1803.02193v1 [math.HO] 6 Mar 2018 Contents 1. -
Philosophia Scientiæ, 18-3 | 2014, « Logic and Philosophy of Science in Nancy (I) » [Online], Online Since 01 October 2014, Connection on 05 November 2020
Philosophia Scientiæ Travaux d'histoire et de philosophie des sciences 18-3 | 2014 Logic and Philosophy of Science in Nancy (I) Selected Contributed Papers from the 14th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science Pierre Édouard Bour, Gerhard Heinzmann, Wilfrid Hodges and Peter Schroeder-Heister (dir.) Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/philosophiascientiae/957 DOI: 10.4000/philosophiascientiae.957 ISSN: 1775-4283 Publisher Éditions Kimé Printed version Date of publication: 1 October 2014 ISBN: 978-2-84174-689-7 ISSN: 1281-2463 Electronic reference Pierre Édouard Bour, Gerhard Heinzmann, Wilfrid Hodges and Peter Schroeder-Heister (dir.), Philosophia Scientiæ, 18-3 | 2014, « Logic and Philosophy of Science in Nancy (I) » [Online], Online since 01 October 2014, connection on 05 November 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ philosophiascientiae/957 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/philosophiascientiae.957 This text was automatically generated on 5 November 2020. Tous droits réservés 1 This issue collects a selection of contributed papers presented at the 14th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science in Nancy, July 2011. These papers were originally presented within three of the main sections of the Congress. They deal with logic, philosophy of mathematics and cognitive science, and philosophy of technology. A second volume of contributed papers, dedicated to general philosophy of science, and other topics in the philosophy of particular sciences, will appear in the next issue of Philosophia Scientiæ (19-1), 2015. Philosophia Scientiæ, 18-3 | 2014 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Logic and Philosophy of Science in Nancy (I) Preface Pierre Edouard Bour, Gerhard Heinzmann, Wilfrid Hodges and Peter Schroeder-Heister Copies of Classical Logic in Intuitionistic Logic Jaime Gaspar A Critical Remark on the BHK Interpretation of Implication Wagner de Campos Sanz and Thomas Piecha Gödel’s Incompleteness Phenomenon—Computationally Saeed Salehi Meinong and Husserl on Existence. -
Veranstaltungskatalog IZWT
Veranstaltungskatalog IZWT Wintersemester 2009/10 Sommersemester 2010 Wintersemester 2010/11 Sommersemester 2011 Wintersemester 2011/12 Sommersemester 2012 IZWT Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschafts- und Technikforschung der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal, Deutschland Erschienen am 27. Mai 2020. c IZWT, 2020 Bergische Universität Wuppertal Gauÿstr. 20 42119 Wuppertal Erstellt mittels LATEX. Inhaltsverzeichnis Wintersemester 2009/104 Kolloquium Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte . .5 Ringvorlesung Herausforderung Klima Natur- und Wissenschaftsforschung im Hand- lungsdruck . .6 Sommersemester 20107 Kolloquium Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte . .8 Tagungen & Workshops . .9 Wintersemester 2010/11 18 Kolloquium Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte . 19 Ringvorlesung Was war und was ist Materie? . 20 Sommersemester 2011 21 Kolloquium Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte . 22 Wintersemester 2011/12 23 Kolloquium Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte . 24 Ringvorlesung Zeit im Umbruch . 31 Tagungen & Workshops . 38 Sommersemester 2012 41 Kolloquium Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte . 42 Tagungen & Workshops . 54 Anhang 68 Gardening and Knowledge . 69 Welche Natur brauchen wir? . 161 Veranstaltungen IZWT Seite 3 Wintersemester 2009/10 01.10.2009 - 31.03.2010 Veranstaltungen IZWT Seite 4 WS 09/10 KOLLOQUIUM WISSENSCHAFTSTHEORIE UND WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE Termine im WS 2009/10 (ohne Ringvorlesung) Mi. 18–20 Uhr, Raum N.10.20 28.10.2009 Textbesprechung 11.11.2009 PD Dr. Volker Remmert Eine Disziplin und ihre Verleger: Mainz Mathematisches Publizieren in Deutschland. 1871-1949 25.11.2009 Prof. Dr. Helmut Pulte Darwin und die exakten Bochum Wissenschaften 09.12.2009 Prof. Dr. Manfred Stöckler Demokrits Erben Bremen 13.01.2010 Prof. Dr. Klaus Volkert Eine kurze Geschichte des Wuppertal mathematischen Raumes 27.01.2010 Klaus-Heinrich Peters Die Rolle der Mathematik in der Hamburg Physik bei Dirac und von Neumann Prof. Dr.