Dedekind, Julius Wilhelm Richard

Dedekind, Julius Wilhelm Richard (yl`ys vĭl`hĕlm rĭkh`ärt dā`dəkĭnt), 1831–1916, German mathematician. Dedekind studied at Göttingen under the German mathematician Carl Gauss and in 1852 received his doctorate there for a thesis on Eulerian integrals. In 1858 he went to Zürich as a professor; in 1862 he returned to his home town Brunswick to become a professor there. Dedekind led the effort to formulate rigorous definitions of basic mathematical concepts. Perhaps his best-known contribution is the "Dedekind cut," whereby real numbers can be defined in terms of rational numbers. He also did fundamental work in algebraic number theory, introducing the notion of ideal in ring systems.

---

Dedekind, Julius Wilhelm Richard 

Born Oct. 6, 1831, in Braunschweig; died there Feb. 12, 1916. German mathematician. Member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences (1880).

Dedekind was a student of K. Gauss and P. G. L. Dirichlet at the University of Göttingen. His principal works were on the theory of algebraic numbers. He developed a number of general concepts, which formed the basis of modern algebra, particularly the modern definition of the “ideal.” Dedekind is also known as the creator of one of the first rigorous proofs of the theory of real numbers. Together with H. Weber, he published Dirichlet’s lectures on number theory and the complete works of G. F. B. Riemann.

WORKS

Gesammelte mathematische Werke, vols. 1-3. Braunschweig 1930–32.
In Russian translation:
Nepreryvnost’ i irratsional’nye chisla, 4th ed. Odessa, 1923.