Eduard Zehnder is remembered in mathematics for work the next generation could build on.
The record lists Eduard Zehnder as Swiss mathematician (1940-2024).
Eduard Zehnder was born at Leuggern in 1940. His recorded nationality is Switzerland. He studied at ETH Zurich and University of Erlangen–Nuremberg.
Twentieth-century mathematics became abstract and highly specialised, and its methods reached into physics, economics and computing.
His academic posts were held at Ruhr University Bochum and ETH Zurich.
The recorded fields of work are geometry, topology and mathematics.
Mathematics accumulates without discarding: a proof from two thousand years ago is still a proof.
That the work was done from Switzerland matters: mathematical training, institutions and the language of publication have never been evenly distributed.
Eduard Zehnder died in 2024, aged 84. The proofs remain, and a proof does not decay - which is the particular permanence mathematics offers.
Achievements
- Held posts at Ruhr University Bochum and ETH Zurich
- Fields: geometry, topology and mathematics
