Ferdinand von Lindemann

German mathematician (1852–1939)

Ferdinand von Lindemann belongs to the mathematical record as a figure whose results outlasted the problems that prompted them.

The record lists Ferdinand von Lindemann as German mathematician (1852–1939).

Ferdinand von Lindemann was born at Hanover in 1852. His recorded nationality is German Reich. He studied at University of Göttingen and Technical University of Munich.

The nineteenth century made mathematics rigorous: definitions were tightened, foundations questioned, and whole fields created from scratch.

His academic posts were held at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, University of Würzburg and University of Freiburg.

The recorded fields of work are number theory, mathematics and non-euclidean geometry.

Among his principal contributions are Lindemann–Weierstrass theorem and Hermite–Lindemann Theorem. Mathematics is the one discipline whose results, once proved, are never overturned.

Recognition followed: Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown (1918).

That the work was done from German Reich matters: mathematical training, institutions and the language of publication have never been evenly distributed.

Ferdinand von Lindemann died in 1939, aged 87. The proofs remain, and a proof does not decay - which is the particular permanence mathematics offers.

Achievements

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