Felix Bernstein (mathematician)

Felix Bernstein
Born(1878-02-24)24 February 1878
Halle
Died3 December 1956(1956-12-03) (aged 78)
Zürich, Switzerland
Alma materUniversity of Göttingen
Known forSchröder–Bernstein theorem
ChildrenMarianne Bernstein-Wiener[1]: 7r 
Scientific career
Theses
Doctoral advisorDavid Hilbert

Felix Bernstein (24 February 1878 – 3 December 1956), was a German mathematician known for proving in 1896 the Schröder–Bernstein theorem, a central result in set theory,[1]: 5–6 [2][3][note 1] and less well known for demonstrating in 1924 the correct blood group inheritance pattern of multiple alleles at one locus through statistical analysis.

Life

Felix Bernstein was born in Halle on 24 February 1878 to a Jewish family of academics.[4] His father Julius held the Chair of Physiology at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, and was the Director of the Physiological Institute at the University of Halle.

While still in gymnasium in Halle, Bernstein heard the university seminar of Georg Cantor, who was a friend of Bernstein's father.[1]: 5r  From 1896 to 1900, Bernstein studied in Munich, Halle, Berlin and Göttingen.[5]: 166  In the early Weimar Republic, Bernstein temporarily was Göttingen vice-chairman of the local chapter of German Democratic Party .[6]: 7 [7]: 118 [8] In 1933,[note 2] after Hitler's rise to power, Bernstein was removed from his chair, per §6 of the Nazi Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, often used against politically unpopular persons. He received the message of his dismissal during a research/lecturing journey (started on Dec. 1st, 1932) to the United States, and he stayed there.[5]: 166 [6]: 7–8 [8] He was a visiting professor of mathematics at Columbia University from 1933 to 1936 and a professor of biometry at New York University from 1936 to 1943.[9] In 1942 he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[10] In 1948, Bernstein retired from teaching in the US, and returned to Europe.[2] He mainly lived in Rome and Freiburg, occasionally visiting Göttingen,[5]: 166  where he became professor emeritus.[2] He died in Zürich on 3 December 1956.[1]: 6r [2]

Publications

Notes

  1. ^ In 1897 (aged 19), according to Oliver Deiser (2010). "Zeittafel zur frühen Mengenlehre" (PDF). Einführung in die Mengenlehre — Die Mengenlehre Georg Cantors und ihre Axiomatisierung durch Ernst Zermelo (3rd ed.). Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-20401-5.
  2. ^ In 1934, according to O'Connor, Robertson (MacTutor).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Crow, J. F. (1993). "Felix Bernstein and the first human marker locus". Genetics. 133 (1): 4–7. doi:10.1093/genetics/133.1.4. PMC 1205297. PMID 8417988.
  2. ^ a b c d O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Felix Bernstein (mathematician)", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  3. ^ Nathan, Henry (1970–1980). "Bernstein, Felix". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
  4. ^ "Felix Bernstein". International Statistical Review (2005), 73: 1. 3-7.
  5. ^ a b c Max Pinl (1970). "Kollegen in einer dunklen Zeit (2)" (PDF). Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung. 72: 165–189.
  6. ^ a b Norbert Schappacher (1987). "Das Mathematische Institut der Universität Göttingen 1929—1950" (PDF). In Becker; Dahms; Wegeler (eds.). Die Universität Göttingen unter dem Nationalsozialismus. München: K.G.Saur. pp. 345–373. — Schappacher gives a lot of details from the Göttingen University archive.
  7. ^ Barbara Marshall (1972). The Political Development of German University Towns in the Weimar Republic: Göttingen and Münster 1918—1930 (Ph.D. thesis). Univ. of London.
  8. ^ a b Steffi Laemmle; Willy Tiabou; Christoph Bichlmeier (May 2003). "Verfolgte Mathematiker (Persecuted Mathematicians)". Seminar für überfachliche Grundlagen: Mathematiker in der NS-Zeit (Term Paper). TU Munich.
  9. ^ Cattell, Jaques, ed. (1949). American Men of Science: A Biographical Dictionary. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: The Science Press. p. 192.
  10. ^ "Historic Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science.