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Meeting under the Integral Sign? : The Oslo Congress of Mathematicians on the Eve of the Second World War.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: History of Mathematics SeriesPublisher: Providence : American Mathematical Society, 2020Copyright date: ©2020Edition: 1st edDescription: 1 online resource (360 pages)Content type:
  • text
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 9781470455156
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Meeting under the Integral Sign?DDC classification:
  • 510.7
LOC classification:
  • QA1 .H655 2020
Online resources:
Contents:
Intro -- Cover -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Conventions for Transliteration from Cyrillic Characters -- Part 1 . Introduction -- Chapter 1. Introduction: Four Strategies, the Prehistory of the Oslo Congress, and Sources -- 1.1. Four strategies for international mathematical communication -- 1.2. The prehistory of the Oslo congress -- 1.3. Sources -- Part 2 . The Politics of the Congress -- Chapter 2. The Norwegian Hosts: The Newcomer with Historical Traditions -- 2.1. Prehistory of the ICM in Scandinavia -- 2.2. 1928: Norwegians enter the international stage in new numbers -- 2.3. The 1932 Zurich congress and the Norwegian bid for 1936 -- 2.4. The 1929 Abel celebrations in Oslo -- 2.5. Setting up the organisation of the 1936 ICM -- 2.6. Efforts to secure funding and advertise the event -- 2.7. Promoting tourism in Norway -- 2.8. Setting up the programme of plenary speakers -- 2.9. The outlook and international ambitions of the organisers -- 2.10. How Oslo superseded Princeton for one week -- Chapter 3. The German Delegation: Swaying between Expansionism and Isolationism -- 3.1. Preparation for the congress -- 3.2. German attendance and Lietzmann's reports -- 3.3. Further consequences of the congress for the German delegates -- Chapter 4. The Russian Withdrawal: Isolationism out of Fear and Ideology -- 4.1. A conspicuous absence -- 4.2. Political obstacles -- 4.3. Russian and Soviet mathematics to 1936 -- 4.4. Attempts to participate in Oslo -- 4.5. After Oslo -- Chapter 5. The Italian Case: Mathematics as a Victim of World Politics -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Italian mathematicians and the early ICMs -- 5.3. Italian mathematics under Mussolini -- Chapter 6. The Congress in the Norwegian Dailies -- 6.1. Mathematical refugees and other political and social issues.
6.2. Commentary on Appendix A -- Chapter 7. International Mathematics Shortly Before and After the Second World War: A Glimpse Ahead and Back Again -- Part 3 . The Mathematics of the Congress -- Chapter 8. Assessing the Mathematics of the Congress -- 8.1. Developments in mathematical communication -- 8.2. Measuring mathematical impact -- 8.3. Languages and geographical distribution of speakers -- 8.4. Analysis of content: thematic restrictions -- Chapter 9. The Plenary Lectures -- 9.1. Evaluating the plenary lectures -- 9.2. C. Størmer: "Programme for the quantitative discussion of electron orbits in the field of a magnetic dipole, with application to cosmic rays and kindred phenomena" -- 9.3. R. Fueter: "The theory of regular functions of a quaternion variable" -- 9.4. É. Cartan: "Some insights into the role of Sophus Lie's theory of groups in the development of modern geometry" -- 9.5. C. L. Siegel: "Analytic theory of quadratic forms" -- 9.6. O. Veblen: "Spinors and projective geometry" -- 9.7. J. Nielsen: "Some methods and results from the topology of surface transformations" -- 9.8. E. Hecke: "Recent advances in the theory of elliptic modular functions" -- 9.9. O. Neugebauer: "On pre-Greek mathematics and its position relative to the Greek" -- 9.10. C. W. Oseen: "Problems of geometric optics" -- 9.11. V. Bjerknes: "New lines in hydrodynamics" -- 9.12. H. Hasse: "On the Riemann hypothesis in function fields" -- 9.13. G. D. Birkhoff: "On the foundations of quantum mechanics" -- 9.14. L. J. Mordell: "Minkowski's theorems and hypotheses on linear forms" -- 9.15. L. V. Ahlfors: "Geometry of Riemann surfaces" -- 9.16. J. G. van der Corput: "Diophantine approximation" -- 9.17. S. Banach: "The theory of operations and their significance for analysis" -- 9.18. M. Fréchet: "Mathematical mélange" -- 9.19. N. Wiener: "Gap theorems".
9.20. Ø. Ore: "The decomposition theorems of algebra" -- 9.21. The plenary lectures that were planned but did not take place -- 9.22. The award of the first Fields Medals to Ahlfors and Douglas -- Chapter 10. ICMI -- Chapter 11. Conclusions Regarding the Mathematics of the Congress -- Appendices -- Appendix A. Norwegian Newspaper Items Relating to the Congress -- A.1. Aftenposten, 13 July 1936, no. 346, pp.1+5 (signed by S.-L.) -- A.2. Aftenposten, 14 July 1936, no. 348, p.3 -- A.3. Arbeiderbladet, 14 July 1936, no. 161, p.5 -- A.4. Tidens Tegn, 14 July 1936, no. 160, p.2 -- A.5. Aftenposten, 15 July 1936, no. 349 (morning issue), p.3 -- A.6. Aftenposten, 15 July 1936, no. 350 (regular issue), p.1 -- A.7. Arbeiderbladet, 16 July 1936, no. 163, p.13 -- A.8. Arbeiderbladet, 18 July 1936, no. 165, p.5 -- A.9. Tidens Tegn, 18 July 1936, no. 164, p.1 -- Appendix B. Letter from Heegaard to Engel, 24 July 1936 -- Appendix C. Congress Report from Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 9 August 1936 -- Appendix D. Lietzmann's Unpublished Report on the Congress -- Appendix E. Report by E. G. Kern, the Nazi functionary in Oslo, to Nazi headquarters in Berlin, 15 August 1936 -- Appendix F. Newspaper Profile of E. G. Kern, the Nazi functionary in Oslo, 4 December 1937 (with Størmer's Annotation, and Commentary, and Ketil Kern's Memoirs) -- Appendix G. Transcription of Two Recommendations Made by the Subcommittee on Conferences to the Organizing Committee of the Planned 1940 ICM -- Appendix H. Transcription of an Attachment to the Round Letter of the Organizing Committee of the Planned 1940 ICM, Listing the Mathematicians Invited -- Bibliography -- Archival sources -- Newspaper articles -- Congress proceedings -- 1936 plenary lectures -- Other published sources -- Name Index -- Subject Index -- Back Cover.
Summary: This book examines the historically unique conditions under which the International Congress of Mathematicians took place in Oslo in 1936. This Congress was the only one on this level to be held during the period of the Nazi regime in Germany (1933-1945) and after the wave of emigrations from it. Relying heavily on unpublished archival sources, the authors consider the different goals of the various participants in the Congress, most notably those of the Norwegian organizers, and the Nazi-led German delegation. They also investigate the reasons for the absence of the proposed Soviet and Italian delegations. In addition, aiming to shed light onto the mathematical dimension of the Congress, the authors provide overviews of the nineteen plenary presentations, as well as their planning and development. Biographical information about each of the plenary speakers rounds off the picture. The Oslo Congress, the first at which Fields Medals were awarded, is used as a lens through which the reader of this book can view the state of the art of mathematics in the mid-1930s.
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Intro -- Cover -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Conventions for Transliteration from Cyrillic Characters -- Part 1 . Introduction -- Chapter 1. Introduction: Four Strategies, the Prehistory of the Oslo Congress, and Sources -- 1.1. Four strategies for international mathematical communication -- 1.2. The prehistory of the Oslo congress -- 1.3. Sources -- Part 2 . The Politics of the Congress -- Chapter 2. The Norwegian Hosts: The Newcomer with Historical Traditions -- 2.1. Prehistory of the ICM in Scandinavia -- 2.2. 1928: Norwegians enter the international stage in new numbers -- 2.3. The 1932 Zurich congress and the Norwegian bid for 1936 -- 2.4. The 1929 Abel celebrations in Oslo -- 2.5. Setting up the organisation of the 1936 ICM -- 2.6. Efforts to secure funding and advertise the event -- 2.7. Promoting tourism in Norway -- 2.8. Setting up the programme of plenary speakers -- 2.9. The outlook and international ambitions of the organisers -- 2.10. How Oslo superseded Princeton for one week -- Chapter 3. The German Delegation: Swaying between Expansionism and Isolationism -- 3.1. Preparation for the congress -- 3.2. German attendance and Lietzmann's reports -- 3.3. Further consequences of the congress for the German delegates -- Chapter 4. The Russian Withdrawal: Isolationism out of Fear and Ideology -- 4.1. A conspicuous absence -- 4.2. Political obstacles -- 4.3. Russian and Soviet mathematics to 1936 -- 4.4. Attempts to participate in Oslo -- 4.5. After Oslo -- Chapter 5. The Italian Case: Mathematics as a Victim of World Politics -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Italian mathematicians and the early ICMs -- 5.3. Italian mathematics under Mussolini -- Chapter 6. The Congress in the Norwegian Dailies -- 6.1. Mathematical refugees and other political and social issues.

6.2. Commentary on Appendix A -- Chapter 7. International Mathematics Shortly Before and After the Second World War: A Glimpse Ahead and Back Again -- Part 3 . The Mathematics of the Congress -- Chapter 8. Assessing the Mathematics of the Congress -- 8.1. Developments in mathematical communication -- 8.2. Measuring mathematical impact -- 8.3. Languages and geographical distribution of speakers -- 8.4. Analysis of content: thematic restrictions -- Chapter 9. The Plenary Lectures -- 9.1. Evaluating the plenary lectures -- 9.2. C. Størmer: "Programme for the quantitative discussion of electron orbits in the field of a magnetic dipole, with application to cosmic rays and kindred phenomena" -- 9.3. R. Fueter: "The theory of regular functions of a quaternion variable" -- 9.4. É. Cartan: "Some insights into the role of Sophus Lie's theory of groups in the development of modern geometry" -- 9.5. C. L. Siegel: "Analytic theory of quadratic forms" -- 9.6. O. Veblen: "Spinors and projective geometry" -- 9.7. J. Nielsen: "Some methods and results from the topology of surface transformations" -- 9.8. E. Hecke: "Recent advances in the theory of elliptic modular functions" -- 9.9. O. Neugebauer: "On pre-Greek mathematics and its position relative to the Greek" -- 9.10. C. W. Oseen: "Problems of geometric optics" -- 9.11. V. Bjerknes: "New lines in hydrodynamics" -- 9.12. H. Hasse: "On the Riemann hypothesis in function fields" -- 9.13. G. D. Birkhoff: "On the foundations of quantum mechanics" -- 9.14. L. J. Mordell: "Minkowski's theorems and hypotheses on linear forms" -- 9.15. L. V. Ahlfors: "Geometry of Riemann surfaces" -- 9.16. J. G. van der Corput: "Diophantine approximation" -- 9.17. S. Banach: "The theory of operations and their significance for analysis" -- 9.18. M. Fréchet: "Mathematical mélange" -- 9.19. N. Wiener: "Gap theorems".

9.20. Ø. Ore: "The decomposition theorems of algebra" -- 9.21. The plenary lectures that were planned but did not take place -- 9.22. The award of the first Fields Medals to Ahlfors and Douglas -- Chapter 10. ICMI -- Chapter 11. Conclusions Regarding the Mathematics of the Congress -- Appendices -- Appendix A. Norwegian Newspaper Items Relating to the Congress -- A.1. Aftenposten, 13 July 1936, no. 346, pp.1+5 (signed by S.-L.) -- A.2. Aftenposten, 14 July 1936, no. 348, p.3 -- A.3. Arbeiderbladet, 14 July 1936, no. 161, p.5 -- A.4. Tidens Tegn, 14 July 1936, no. 160, p.2 -- A.5. Aftenposten, 15 July 1936, no. 349 (morning issue), p.3 -- A.6. Aftenposten, 15 July 1936, no. 350 (regular issue), p.1 -- A.7. Arbeiderbladet, 16 July 1936, no. 163, p.13 -- A.8. Arbeiderbladet, 18 July 1936, no. 165, p.5 -- A.9. Tidens Tegn, 18 July 1936, no. 164, p.1 -- Appendix B. Letter from Heegaard to Engel, 24 July 1936 -- Appendix C. Congress Report from Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 9 August 1936 -- Appendix D. Lietzmann's Unpublished Report on the Congress -- Appendix E. Report by E. G. Kern, the Nazi functionary in Oslo, to Nazi headquarters in Berlin, 15 August 1936 -- Appendix F. Newspaper Profile of E. G. Kern, the Nazi functionary in Oslo, 4 December 1937 (with Størmer's Annotation, and Commentary, and Ketil Kern's Memoirs) -- Appendix G. Transcription of Two Recommendations Made by the Subcommittee on Conferences to the Organizing Committee of the Planned 1940 ICM -- Appendix H. Transcription of an Attachment to the Round Letter of the Organizing Committee of the Planned 1940 ICM, Listing the Mathematicians Invited -- Bibliography -- Archival sources -- Newspaper articles -- Congress proceedings -- 1936 plenary lectures -- Other published sources -- Name Index -- Subject Index -- Back Cover.

This book examines the historically unique conditions under which the International Congress of Mathematicians took place in Oslo in 1936. This Congress was the only one on this level to be held during the period of the Nazi regime in Germany (1933-1945) and after the wave of emigrations from it. Relying heavily on unpublished archival sources, the authors consider the different goals of the various participants in the Congress, most notably those of the Norwegian organizers, and the Nazi-led German delegation. They also investigate the reasons for the absence of the proposed Soviet and Italian delegations. In addition, aiming to shed light onto the mathematical dimension of the Congress, the authors provide overviews of the nineteen plenary presentations, as well as their planning and development. Biographical information about each of the plenary speakers rounds off the picture. The Oslo Congress, the first at which Fields Medals were awarded, is used as a lens through which the reader of this book can view the state of the art of mathematics in the mid-1930s.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.

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