Mathematician:Carl Louis Ferdinand von Lindemann
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Mathematician
German mathematician who made his mark by publishing a proof in $1882$ that $\pi$ is transcendental.
Student of Karl Weierstrass.
Some sources suggest that many feel that the result should have been attributed to Charles Hermite as Lindemann, they feel, was considerably inferior to Hermite, and merely stumbled upon this result, by good luck.
Worked in physics, on the theory of the electron.
Tried fruitlessly to prove Fermat's Last Theorem.
Did considerable research in the history of mathematics.
Nationality
German
History
- Born: 12 April 1852 in Hannover, Hanover, German Confederation (now Germany)
- 1873: Awarded Doctorate at Erlangen
- 1877: Awarded habilitation by the University of Würzburg
- 1877: Appointed as extraordinary professor at the University of Freiburg
- 1879: Promoted to ordinary professor at Freiburg
- 1883: Professor at the University of Königsberg
- 1893: Accepted a chair at University of Munich
- 1894: Elected to Bavarian Academy of Sciences as associate member
- 1895: Elevated to full member of Bavarian Academy of Sciences
- 1912: Awarded an honorary degree by University of St Andrews
- Died: 6 March 1939 in Munich, Germany
Theorems and Definitions
Results named for Carl Louis Ferdinand von Lindemann can be found here.
Publications
- 1873: Über unendlich kleine Bewegungen und über Kraftsysteme bei allgemeiner projektivischer Massbestimmung (doctoral thesis)
- 1882: Über die Zahl (in which $\pi$ is transcendental appears)
Also known as
Usually known as Ferdinand von Lindemann.
Sources
- John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Carl Louis Ferdinand von Lindemann": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
- 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {B}.18$: Algebraic and Transcendental Numbers. $e$ is Transcendental: Footnote $3$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Lindemann, Carl Louis Ferdinand von (1852-1939)
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Lindemann, Carl Louis Ferdinand von (1852-1939)
- 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Lindemann, (Carl Louis) Ferdinand von (1852-1939)