Lothar Heffter

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Zurich 1932

Lothar Wilhelm Julius Heffter (born June 11, 1862 in Cöslin , † January 1, 1962 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German mathematician .

family

Heffter comes from a widespread family of scholars. His grandfather was the Prussian crown syndic August Wilhelm Heffter . His father was Justizrat Werner Heffter, who raised him on his own after his birth mother died. His three half-siblings come from two other marriages of his father (Julie, born in 1872, Else and Wilhelm, born after 1873).

From Lothar Heffter's first marriage to Melie Heffter (née Zwenger, sister of his father's third wife) in 1888, the four children Lotte (born 1889), Werner (born 1891), Konstantin (born 1893) and Roland ( born 1900). After the death of his first wife in 1913, he married his former doctoral student Gertraude Osann (née Siehl, * 1895 † 1978) in 1924; the daughter Eva (* 1926) came from this marriage.

education and profession

From 1881 to 1886 he studied mathematics and physics with Lazarus Immanuel Fuchs and Carl Koehler (1855–1932) in Heidelberg and Berlin. In 1886 he received his doctorate in Berlin with Fuchs with the thesis On the integration of linear homogeneous differential equations of the second order . His habilitation took place in 1888 at the University of Giessen with a thesis on the theory of linear homogeneous differential equations . In 1891 he became an associate professor in Gießen and in 1897 an associate professor at the University of Bonn .

From 1904 he was a full professor at RWTH Aachen University , from 1905 at the University of Kiel and from 1911 at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg , which he headed in 1917 as prorector (the official rector was the Grand Duke Friedrich II of Baden ). In 1931 he retired.

During his studies, Lothar Heffter became a member of the black fraternity and later fraternity of Vineta Heidelberg in 1881 .

Act

Heffter did research in the theory of linear differential equations , function theory and analytical geometry . The theory of linear differential equations by his teacher Lazarus Fuchs was first presented in context in his textbook. In 1891 he also examined questions of the four-color theorem on surfaces of any gender, criticizing the alleged evidence by Percy Heawood , which then became a conjecture again and was only proven by Gerhard Ringel .

His main concern was to popularize mathematics, which until the early 20th century was an abstract art reserved for scientists. His two works What is mathematics - entertainment during a sea voyage as well as “Right” and “Left” and our conception of space arose from this request .

In 1933 he resigned from the chairmanship of the Association of Friends of the University of Freiburg, which he had successfully founded in 1925, after he had failed to implement a solution that was tolerable for all for the exclusion of Jewish members demanded by the NSDAP.

In addition to his intensive research and publication activities, he was particularly valued as a gifted speaker, teacher and pedagogue. For him, teaching was not a necessary accompanying evil of the professorship, but an integral part and his actual calling. As a university professor and rector, he even represented high school teachers who went to war in their school lessons during the First World War, and during the Second World War , now at the age of 80 and more than 10 years after his retirement, he temporarily returned to teaching at the university.

In addition to his math activities, Heffter was a passionate hunter. The quiet in his hunting ground near Sankt Peter often drew him - alone, with colleagues, friends or family - to his refuge in the Black Forest. Most of his works were created up there from 1911 onwards.

Heffter's problem of differences (1896) was solved by Rose Peltesohn in 1939 .

Honors and memberships

Fonts

  • For the integration of the linear homogeneous differential equations of the second order. Gebr. Unger, Berlin 1886 (dissertation, University of Berlin, 1886).
  • On the theory of linear homogeneous differential equations. BG Teubner, Leipzig 1888 (habilitation thesis, University of Gießen, 1888).
  • About the problem of neighboring areas. In: Mathematical Annals . Vol. 38, 1891, pp. 477-508.
  • Introduction to the theory of linear differential equations with one independent variable. BG Teubner, Leipzig 1894.
  • About the teaching structure of geometry, especially in analytical treatment. In: Annual report of the German Mathematicians Association . 12th volume. BG Teubner, Leipzig 1903, pp. 490-497.
  • About a four-dimensional world: Inaugural public address given on November 23, 1911 in the university auditorium. Speyer & Kaerner, Freiburg im Breisgau 1912; 2nd, completely revised edition: About a four-dimensional world: a commonly understood introduction to the theory of relativity. Speyer & Kaerner, Freiburg im Breisgau 1921.
  • Analytical Geometry Textbook. BG Teubner, Leipzig; Volume 1 together with Carl Koehler 1905, Volume 2 1923, Volume 3 1929.
  • What is math? Conversations during a sea voyage. Th. Fisher, Freiburg im Breisgau 1922; 2nd edition: Th. Fisher, Berlin 1925.
  • My path in life and my math work. BG Teubner, Leipzig / Berlin 1937.
  • Basics and analytical structure of projective, Euclidean, non-Euclidean geometry. BG Teubner, Leipzig 1940; 3rd, significantly revised edition: BG Teubner, Stuttgart 1958.
  • Curve integrals and justification of function theory. Springer, Berlin / Göttingen / Heidelberg 1948.
  • Happy review of nine decades. HF Schulz, Freiburg 1952.
  • Justification of the theory of functions in old and new ways. Springer, Berlin 1955; 2nd, much improved edition 1960.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lothar Heffter (ed.): Happy review of nine decades: a professor's life Freiburg i.Br., p. 39 f.
  2. ^ Gabriele Dörflinger: Mathematics in the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences . 2014, pp. 25–26.
  3. ↑ Lothar Heffter in the Munzinger archive , accessed on November 5, 2011 ( beginning of the article freely available)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Heffter, Lothar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heffter, Lothar Wilhelm Julius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Koslin
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1962
Place of death Freiburg in Breisgau