Möbius, August Ferdinand

Möbius, August Ferdinand

(born Nov. 17, 1790, Schulpforta, Saxony—died Sept. 26, 1868, Leipzig) German mathematician and theoretical astronomer. He began teaching at the University of Leipzig in 1815, and established his reputation with many publications. His mathematical papers are chiefly concerned with geometry. He introduced homogeneous coordinates into analytic geometry and dealt with geometric transformations, in particular projective transformations. He was a pioneer in topology; in a memoir discovered after his death he discussed the properties of one-sided surfaces, including the famous Möbius strip.

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Möbius, August Ferdinand 

Born Nov. 17, 1790, in Schulpforta; died Sept. 26, 1868, in Leipzig. German geometer. Professor at the University of Leipzig (from 1816).

MÖbius was the first to introduce a coordinate system and analytic methods of investigation into projective geometry. He devised a new classification of curves and surfaces and established the general concept of a projective transformation. Mobius also investigated correlation transformations. In 1858 he established the existence of one-sided surfaces.

WORKS

Gesammelte Werke, vols. 1-4. Leipzig, 1885-87.

REFERENCE

Klein, F. Lektsii o razvitii matematiki v XIX stoletii, part 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1937. (Translated from German.)