Joseph Ehrenfried Hofmann

Joseph Ehrenfried Hofmann ( born March 7, 1900 in Munich, † May 7, 1973 in Günzburg ) was a German historian of mathematics, known for his discoveries about Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

Life and work

After graduation in 1919 at the Munich School Wilhelm Hofmann studied in Munich (PhD 1927 with Walther von Dyck and George Faber ) and was briefly assistant in Munich and Darmstadt, before he went into the teaching profession ( in Gunzburg, Nördlingen ). Even as a student he was attracted to the history of mathematics after him heranzog Faber for the publication of the works of Euler. A big influence was also Heinrich Wieleitner, with whom he published several works on the history of calculus. As a teacher he continued his historical studies. In 1939 he qualified as a professor in the history of mathematics at the University of Berlin. 1940 to 1945 he was entrusted with the Leibniz edition of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. 1947 until his retirement in 1963 he was again a high school teacher in Günzburg. He also had (some part-time ) professor of the History of Mathematics at the Albert -Ludwigs- University of Freiburg, the Humboldt University of Berlin, Eberhard -Karls -Universität Tübingen (Honorary Chair 1950) and the Technical University of Karlsruhe. He organized regular seminars on the history of mathematics at the Mathematical Research Institute in Oberwolfach, where he was already just after the war.

Hofmann was considered the expert on the development of infinitesimal calculus by Leibniz, whose time in Paris, he studied closely and so significantly to Enlightenment ( or reassurance ) of the long echoing in the history of mathematics priority dispute between Leibniz and Isaac Newton contributed to the invention of calculus. He was co-editor of the works of Leibniz, as well as, inter alia, by Nicolaus of Cusa, Johann Bernoulli (and other reprint editions and works in publishing Georg Olms, Hildesheim, such as mathematics story of Abraham Gotthelf Kästner ). In addition, he worked on number theory at Leonhard Euler and Pierre de Fermat. He found, inter alia, some new work by Fermat ( published in 1943 ).

He died as a result of a traffic accident on 9 November 1972. A car had hit him on the morning walk. Hofmann is buried in his hometown Ichenhausen.

In 1958 he was invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Edinburgh ( About a Euclid processing, which is the Albertus Magnus attributed ).

Writings

  • Selected Writings, 2 vols, (Editor Christoph Scriba ), Olms Verlag, Hildesheim 1990
  • Oskar Becker: History of Mathematics, Bonn, Atheneum Publishers, 1951 ( Hofmann comes part 2 and 3)
  • History of Mathematics, 3 volumes, de Gruyter, Sammlung Goschen 1953-1957 ( Part 1: From the beginnings to the occurrence of Fermat and Descartes, 1953, Part 2: From Fermat and Descartes to the invention of calculus and to the development of new methods, 2nd edition 1963, Part 3: From the debate over the Calculus to the French Revolution, 1957, with detailed bibliography). His history of mathematics has also been translated into Spanish, French and translated English (Classical Mathematics, New York, Philosophical Library, 1960, The History of Mathematics, New York, Philosophical Library, 1957 )
  • Leibniz in Paris 1672-1676 - his growth to mathematical maturity, Cambridge University Press 1974
  • The development history of Leibniz's mathematics, Munich, Leibniz -Verlag 1949, English edition Leibniz in Paris 1672-1676: His growth to mathematical maturity, 1974
  • Nicolaus Mercator, his life and work, preferably as a mathematician, Academy of Sciences Mainz, Dep of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Class, Volume 3, pp. 43-103, 1950
  • Frans von Schooten the Younger, Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden, Boethius Volume 2, 1962
  • About Jakob Bernoulli's contributions to infinitesimal, L ' Enseignement mathématique, Series 2, Volume 2, 1956
  • Michael Stifel. Life, work and significance for the mathematics of his time, Sudhoffs Archives, Supplement 9, Steiner Verlag 1968
  • Four decades in the struggle for mathematics historical contexts, in Bernhard Sticker, Friedrich Klemm ( ed. ) Pathways to History of Science, Wiesbaden 1969
Bertram Huppert Georg Faber Siegfried Gottwald Integrated Authority File
451818
de