Albin Herzog (mathematician)

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Albin Duke

Albin Herzog (born October 26, 1852 in Homburg TG ; † June 13, 1909 in Mammon ) was a Swiss applied mathematician and professor for technical mechanics and rector at the Polytechnic in Zurich, today's ETH Zurich .

Life

Herzog was the son of a teacher and attended the canton school in Frauenfeld , where Wilhelm Schoch and Jakob Rebfeld were his teachers in mathematics. From 1870 he studied at the Polytechnic in Zurich with Hermann Amandus Schwarz , Karl Culmann and Heinrich Friedrich Weber as well as Karl Geiser . After graduating in 1874 he was assistant to Ludwig Kargl (1846–1875) and received his doctorate in 1875 at the University of Zurich(Determination of some special minimal areas). Because of Kargl's illness, he took over his lectures and in 1877 became professor for applied mechanics at the Polytechnic. From 1895 to 1899 he was rector of the Polytechnic. With his friend and predecessor as Rector Karl Geiser, he founded the fund for widows and orphans at the Polytechnic. He founded the engineering laboratory at the Polytechnic.

Herzog was known for his good teaching (seminars and lectures) and tried to build bridges from theory to practice, being influenced by Jakob I Bernoulli , Hermann Minkowski and James Clerk Maxwell (truss theory). Among other things, he published on truss theory and machine constructions (gearboxes) and also advised engineers and engineering offices who were active in practice.

He personally looked after students and recommended Albert Einstein to attend the old canton school in Aarau after his entrance examination at ETH Zurich had failed, for which he gave him a letter of recommendation.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the Polytechnic in 1905, he and other professors became an honorary citizen of Zurich. From 1895 to 1898 he was on the great council of Zurich and he was on the school board of the district of Zurich Hottingen, where he lived. In 1910, Herzogstrasse in Zurich was named after him. In 1896 he was one of the organizers of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Zurich.

In 1877 he married Elise Bucher, the daughter of a national councilor, and had three sons and a daughter with her.

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personal data
SURNAME Duke, Albin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss mathematician and engineer
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH Homburg TG
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1909
Place of death mammon