A vessel departing from the Netherlands in 1903 carried Arnold Dresden toward a new academic trajectory in Chicago. Upon arriving on his twenty-first birthday, he pivoted from his initial studies in Amsterdam to pursue a doctoral degree, eventually securing his Ph.D. under Oskar Bolza in 1909 with a thesis concerning the second derivatives of the extremal integral.
Academic Foundations and Research
Dresden held a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin from 1909 until 1927. His primary research focused on the calculus of variations and systems of linear differential equations. His scholarly output during this period included papers on the generalized Vandermonde determinant and the iteration of linear homogeneous transformations. Beyond his own research, he served as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science starting in 1911.
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His engagement with professional organizations was extensive. As a charter member of the Mathematical Association of America, he served as Vice-President in 1931 and as its President for the 1933–1934 term. He contributed to the Board of Governors between 1935 and 1940, and again from 1943 to 1945. In his 1933 presidential address, he argued for mathematics to play a more central role in general culture.
Pedagogy and Swarthmore College
Recruited by Frank Aydelotte, Dresden moved to Swarthmore College to establish an honors program in mathematics. He remained at the college until his retirement in 1952. During his tenure, he was a Guggenheim Fellow during the 1930–1931 and 1934–1935 academic years and spent 1935–1936 at the Institute for Advanced Study. He authored several educational texts, including Plane trigonometry, Solid Analytical Geometry and Determinants, and Introduction to the Calculus, while also translating van der Waerden’s Science Awakening from Dutch.
Fast facts
- Born: 23 November 1882, Amsterdam
- Died: 10 April 1954, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
- Ph.D.: University of Chicago, 1909
- Guggenheim Fellow: 1930–1931 and 1934–1935
- President of Mathematical Association of America: 1933–1934
- Member: American Philosophical Society
- Primary Field: Calculus of variations
- Notable Book: An Invitation to Mathematics (1936)
Questions readers ask
What was the focus of his book An Invitation to Mathematics?
The 1936 text promoted his belief that abstract mathematical concepts are accessible to young students.
Did he contribute to the translation of mathematical literature?
Yes, he translated the classic work Science Awakening by B. L. van der Waerden from Dutch into English.
Achievements
- Held posts at University of Wisconsin–Madison and Swarthmore College
