Ralph Fox

Ralph Hartzler Fox (born March 24, 1913 in Morrisville (Pennsylvania) , † December 23, 1973 in Philadelphia ) was an American mathematician who mainly dealt with knot theory.

Fox attended Swarthmore College while studying piano at the Leefson Conservatory in Philadelphia . He received his master's degree in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University . In 1939 he received his doctorate under Solomon Lefschetz at Princeton University . He then went to the Institute for Advanced Study , the University of Illinois and Syracuse University , before returning to Princeton University in 1945 as a professor, where he remained until his death. He was u. a. Visiting professor in Mexico City , Japan, Delft University and Stockholm University .

Fox dealt with low-dimensional topology, especially knot theory . His textbook (with his student Richard H. Crowell) Introduction to Knot Theory , which emerged from lectures at Haverford College in 1956, was a standard work for a long time. He reported on the work on knot theory at the 1950 International Congress of Mathematicians in Cambridge (Massachusetts) .

His PhD students include Harold W. Kuhn , Barry Mazur , John Stallings , Lee Neuwirth, and John Willard Milnor . He also made sure that the Greek mathematician Christos Papakyriakopoulos could work undisturbed in Princeton.

Fox was an active Quaker , was married and had a son. He was an accomplished Go player who represented the United States in the first international Go competition in Tokyo in 1963 and achieved the 4th Dan level.

literature

• Lee Paul Neuwirth: Knots, Groups, and 3-Manifolds. Papers Dedicated to the Memory of RH Fox. Annals of Mathematical Studies, Princeton, 1975, ISBN 978-0-691-08170-0 .
• Richard H. Crowell, Ralph Hartzler Fox: Introduction to Knot Theory. Ginn 1963, Springer 1984, ISBN 0-486-46894-1 .