Kaestner

Abraham Gotthelf Kaestner

Born: 27 Sept 1719 in Leipzig, Germany
Died: 20 June 1800 in Göttingen, Germany

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Kaestner taught at Leipzig, then from 1746 at Göttingen where he was to succeed to Segner's chair. He was an excellent expositor of mathematics although it is reported that Gauss didn't bother to go to his lectures as they were too elementary. However he did influence Gauss, in particular with his interest in Euclid's parallel postulate.

In fact Kaestner's interest in the parallel postulate indirectly influenced Bolyai and Lobachevsky too (Kaestner taught Bolyai's father and Bartels, one of Kaestner's students taught Lobachevsky).

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. G Goe, Kaestner, Forerunner of Gauss, Pash, Hilbert, Proceedings 10th International Congress of the History of Science II (Paris, 1964), 659-661. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996