Curran: A Dual-City Tale of a Mathematician

Author: Constance Reid
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-07-01
Features: This book is a biography of the renowned 20th-century mathematician Richard Courant (1888-1972). Born in Germany, Courant possessed extraordinary mathematical talent. In his youth, he studied at G?ttingen, then the world's mathematical center, under the tutelage of mathematical masters F. Klein and D. Hilbert. While leading the establishment of G?ttingen's Mathematical Institute, his outstanding organizational skills were fully brought to bear. During the era of racial discrimination rampant in Nazi Germany, as a Jewish person, Courant was forced to move his family to the United States. Through Courant's relentless efforts and struggles, New York University, which had previously been weak in mathematical research, rapidly became a center for applied mathematics in the United States, and a brand-new mathematical research institute was built in New York. This book vividly recreates Courant's scientific career, which combined the roles of mathematician, educator, and administrator, and faithfully records his life journey through two world wars. By reading this book, people can gain insight into the life of this distinguished mathematician behind the mathematical formulas.