Ferdinand Rudio

Ferdinand Rudio ( born August 2, 1856 in Wiesbaden, † 21 June 1929 in Zurich ) was a German mathematician and head of the ETH-Bibliothek Zurich. Rudios chief merit lies in the initiation of the project to publish all written work Leonhard Euler as a scientific oeuvre.

Life and work

Rudios school career began in Wiesbaden. In 1874, he moved to Zurich, where he received his baccalaureate and in the same year at the Federal Polytechnic (now ETH) began to study mathematics and physics. From 1877 to 1880 he studied in Berlin among others, Ernst Kummer and Karl Weierstrass. Rudio graduated in 1880 with the topic " About those areas whose center of curvature surfaces are confocal surfaces of the second degree ." He introduced this problem to the solution of differential equations.

1881 Rudio returned to the Federal Polytechnic in Zurich and in 1889 professor of mathematics. This professorship he held until 1928. Rudios research areas were group theory, algebra and geometry. He dealt with the history of mathematics, in particular, he wrote works on the history of squaring the circle and wrote biographies of mathematicians.

His greatest merit lies in paving the way for the publication of the complete works of mathematical Leonhard Euler. Rudio suggested this project in 1883, the 100th anniversary of Euler's at. During the first International Congress of Mathematicians in Zurich in 1897, he campaigned for his idea. 1907 saw the founding of the Euler Commission and in 1911 appeared the first volume. The establishment of the Swiss Mathematical Society can be traced in part to the edition of Euler 's work.

Rudio was chief editor and organized as a library director of the ETH project, on which he worked until his death. During this time, more than 30 volumes have been published. To date, over 70 volumes were published.