Lindemann

Carl Louis Ferdinand von Lindemann


Born: 12 April 1852 in Hannover, Hanover (now Germany)
Died: 1 March 1939 in Munich, Germany

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Ferdinand von Lindemann was the first to prove that pi is transcendental.

He studied under Klein at Erlangen and, under Klein's direction, wrote a thesis on non-Euclidean line geometry and its connection with non-Euclidean kinematics and statics.

Lindemann became professor at the University of Königsberg in 1883. Hurwitz and Hilbert both joined the staff at Königsberg while he was there.

In 1893 Lindemann accepted a chair at the University of Munich where he was to remain for the rest of his career.

Lindemann's main work was in geometry and analysis. He is famed for his proof that pi is transcendental. i.e. pi is not the root of any algebraic equation with rational coefficients. The problem of squaring the circle, namely constructing a square with the same area a given circle using ruler and compasses alone, had been one of the classical problems of Greek mathematics. Lindemann's work established that this problem is insoluble.

He published his proof in the paper †ber die Zahl pi in 1882.

He was given an honorary degree by the University of St Andrews in 1902.

References elsewhere in this archive:

Tell me about Lindemann's work on pi and his work on set theory

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. F von Lindemanns 70 Geburtstag, Jahresberichte der Deutschen Mathematiker vereinigung 31 (1922), 24-30.
  4. C Carathéodory, Nekrolog auf Ferdinand von Lindemann, Sitzungsberichte der mathematisch Abteilung der Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Munich 1 (1940), 61-63.

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JOC/EFR February 1996