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Ferdinand von Lindemann
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'''Carl Louis Ferdinand von Lindemann''' (
April 12,
1852 -
March 6 1939) was a
Germany German mathematician, noted for his proof, published in
1882, that
pi π is a
transcendental number, i.e., it is not a zero of any
polynomial with
rational number rational coefficients.
Life and education
Lindemann was born in
Hanover,
Germany. His father, Ferdinand Lindemann, taught modern languages at a
Gymnasium (school) Gymnasium in Hanover. His mother, Emilie Crusius, was the daughter of the Gymnasium's headmaster. The family later moved to
Schwerin, where young Ferdinand attended school.
He studied mathematics at
Göttingen,
Erlangen, and
Munich. At Erlangen he received a doctorate, supervised by
Felix Klein, on
non-Euclidean geometry.
While a professor at the
University of Königsberg, Lindemann acted as supervisor for the doctoral thesis of
David Hilbert and
Hermann Minkowski.
Transcendentality proof
In
1882, he published the result for which he is best known, the transcendentality of π. His methods were similar to those used nine years earlier by
Charles Hermite to show that
e (mathematical constant) ''e'', the base of natural logarithms, is transcendental. Before the publication of Lindemann's proof, it was known that ''if'' π is transcendental, then the ancient and celebrated problem of
squaring the circle by straightedge and compass could not be solved.
See also
*
Lindemann-Weierstrass theorem.
External links
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Lindemann}}
*{{MathGenealogy |id=7404}}
Category:1852 births Lindemann, Carl Louis Ferdinand von
Category:1939 deaths Lindemann, Carl Louis Ferdinand von
Category:19th century mathematicians Lindemann, Ferdinand von
Category:20th century mathematicians Lindemann, Ferdinand von
Category:German mathematicians Lindemann, Ferdinand von
Category:Number theorists Lindemann, Ferdinand von
de:Ferdinand von Lindemann
es:Carl Louis Ferdinand von Lindemann
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