Mathematicians under the Nazis

Sanford L. Segal

Published by Princeton University Press 2003

Mathematicians under the Nazis

Sanford L. Segal

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400865383

Overview
Contents

About this book

Contrary to popular belief--and despite the expulsion, emigration, or death of many German mathematicians--substantial mathematics was produced in Germany during 1933-1945. In this landmark social history of the mathematics community in Nazi Germany, Sanford Segal examines how the Nazi years affected the personal and academic lives of those German mathematicians who continued to work in Germany.

The effects of the Nazi regime on the lives of mathematicians ranged from limitations on foreign contact to power struggles that rattled entire institutions, from changed work patterns to military draft, deportation, and death. Based on extensive archival research, Mathematicians under the Nazis shows how these mathematicians, variously motivated, reacted to the period's intense political pressures. It details the consequences of their actions on their colleagues and on the practice and organs of German mathematics, including its curricula, institutions, and journals. Throughout, Segal's focus is on the biographies of individuals, including mathematicians who resisted the injection of ideology into their profession, some who worked in concentration camps, and others (such as Ludwig Bieberbach) who used the "Aryanization" of their profession to further their own agendas. Some of the figures are no longer well known; others still tower over the field. All lived lives complicated by Nazi power.

Presenting a wealth of previously unavailable information, this book is a large contribution to the history of mathematics--as well as a unique view of what it was like to live and work in Nazi Germany.

Author / Editor information

Sanford L. Segal is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Rochester and the author of Nine Introductions in Complex Analysis.

Reviews

"Segal must be commended for the enormous amount of research he has done in arriving at an accurate picture of the complexity of the situation faced by mathematicians during the Nazi regime. Avoiding stereotypes and oversimplification, he presents fascinating information and valuable insights to those interested in mathematicians and to people interested in the history of Nazi Germany."—Walter Noll, Carnegie Mellon University

A fascinating, well-researched and richly footnoted account of what occurred within a scientific discipline during the Nazi period.---George G. Szpiro, The Jerusalem Report

The remarkable feature of this book is that in spite of the temptation, the story-telling never succumbs to simplistic descriptions of events or people. The analysis avoids the sentimentality and moral superiority that so often accompany descriptions of the Nazi years. . . . Perhaps this is why Mathematicians under the Nazis is so compelling. . . . This is a perceptive analysis of an important era and well worth reading.---John H. Ewing, Mathematical Reviews

The strength of the book lies in its many individual stories and case histories. . . . [It] offer[s] disturbing and important accounts of the life of science and scientists under the Nazis.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
PREFACE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xix
ABBREVIATIONS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xxi
CHAPTER ONE. Why Mathematics? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER TWO. The Crisis in Mathematics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	14
CHAPTER THREE. The German Academic Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
CHAPTER FOUR. Three Mathematical Case Studies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
CHAPTER FIVE. Academic Mathematical Life Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	168
CHAPTER SIX. Mathematical Institutions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
CHAPTER SEVEN. Ludwig Bieberbach and “Deutsche Mathematik” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	334
CHAPTER EIGHT. Germans and Jews Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
APPENDIX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	493
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	509
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	523