Hermann Minkowski (redirected from Herman Minkowski)

Minkowski, Hermann 

Born June 22, 1864, in Aleksoty, Minsk Province; died Jan. 12, 1909, in Gottingen. German mathematician and physicist. Professor at the universities in Bonn (from 1893), Konigsberg (from 1894), Zurich (from 1896), and Gottingen (from 1902).

Minkowski developed the geometrical theory of numbers, which used geometrical methods to solve difficult problems in number theory. The same theory was also developed simultaneously but independently by G. F. Voronoi. The studies of the two mathematicians complement each other. From the geometrical theory of numbers, Minkowski proceeded to the theory of polyhedrons and the geometry of convex bodies, where he obtained important general results. He also conducted research in mathematical physics, hydrodynamics, the theory of capillarity, and the theory of relativity. In 1907–08 he gave a geometrical interpretation of the kinematics of the special theory of relativity, introducing what is now called Minkowski space.

WORKS

Geometric der Zahlen, fascs. 1–2. Leipzig, 1896–1910.
Gesammelte Abhandlungen, vols. 1–2. Edited by D. Hilbert. Leipzig-Bonn, 1911.

REFERENCE

Delone, B. N. “German Minkovskii.” Uspekhi matematicheskikh nauk, 1936, issue 2.