MINKOWSKI, HERMANN

MINKOWSKI, HERMANN
MINKOWSKI, HERMANN (1864–1909), German mathematician. Minkowski, who was born in Alexoten, Lithuania, was taken to Koenigsberg, Germany, by his parents when he was eight years old. He held chairs of mathematics at Koenigsberg in 1895, Zurich in 1896, and in Goettingen (where a special chair was created for him) in 1902. In 1881 the Paris Academy of Science offered their prize for an investigation of the representation of integers as sums of squares. Although only a freshman, he produced a brilliant paper which went far beyond his terms of reference. The Academy overlooked his writing in German, a language not permitted by the prize regulations, and awarded him a prize. Minkowski's early work was on the theory of numbers. Apart from some work of eisenstein and others, Minkowski is entitled to nearly all the credit for creating the geometry of numbers. He was one of the earliest mathematicians to realize the significance of cantor 's theory of sets at a time when this theory was not appreciated by most mathematicians. The later work of Minkowski was inspired by einstein 's special theory of relativity which was first published in 1905. He produced the four-dimensional formulation of relativity which has given rise to the term "Minkowski space." He also made contributions to the theories of electrodynamics and hydrodynamics. The collected works of Minkowski were edited by D. Hilbert in two volumes and published in 1911 in Leipzig. The first volume contains a biographical article by Hilbert. In addition to his papers, he published the book Diophantische Approximationen (1907). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J.C. Poggendorff, Biographisch-literarisches Handwoerterbuch…der exakten Wissenschaften, 5 (1926), S.V. (Barry Spain)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Minkowski , Hermann — (1864–1909) Russian–German mathematician Minkowski was born at Alexotas in Russia to parents of German origin. In 1872 the family returned to Germany, settling in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). Minkowski studied alongside David Hilbert at the… …   Scientists

  • Minkowski, Hermann — ▪ German mathematician born June 22, 1864, Aleksotas, Russian Empire [now in Kaunas, Lithuania] died Jan. 12, 1909, Göttingen, Germany       German mathematician who developed the geometrical theory of numbers and who made numerous contributions… …   Universalium

  • Minkowski, Hermann — (1864 1909)    German mathe matician. Born in Lithuania, his parents went to Germany when he was eight. He studied at the University of Konigsberg and taught at the University of Bonn, later becoming a professor at the University of Gottingen …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Minkowski, Hermann — ► (1864 1909) Matemático y físico lituano. Es autor de unos trabajos que permitieron una interpretación geométrica de la teoría de la relatividad restringida de Einstein, recurriendo a un espacio de cuatro dimensiones …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Minkowski — Minkowski, Hermann …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Hermann Minkowski — (* 22. Juni 1864 in Aleksotas, damals Russland (heute Kaunas, Litauen); † 12. Januar 1909 in Göttingen) war ein deutscher Mathematiker und Physike …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hermann Minkowski — Nacimiento 22 de junio de 1864 Kaunas, Lituania (antiguamente Aleksot …   Wikipedia Español

  • MINKOWSKI (H.) — MINKOWSKI HERMANN (1864 1909) Mathématicien allemand né en Russie, à Alexoten, et mort à Göttingen. Hermann Minkowski habita Königsberg dès sa plus tendre enfance, et il fit ses études universitaires à Königsberg et à Berlin. De 1887 à 1902, il… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Minkowski — (Hermann) (1864 1909) mathématicien lituanien. Il fonda une géométrie des nombres …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Hermann Minkowski — Infobox Scientist name = Hermann Minkowski |300px caption = birth date = birth date|1864|6|22|mf=y birth place = Aleksotas, Kaunas, Lithuania, Russian Empire death date = death date and age|1909|1|12|1864|6|22|mf=y death place = Göttingen,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”