Thomas W. Hawkins

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Thomas William Hawkins Jr. (born January 10, 1938 in Flushing , New York ) is an American mathematician.

Live and act

Hawkins received his doctorate in 1968 from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in mathematics and the history of science with R. Creighton Buck on the development of the integration theory of Henri Lebesgue , from which his book "Lebesgues Theory of Integration - its Origin and Development" emerged. After completing his doctorate, he spent a few years at Swarthmore College and then became a professor at Boston University . In 1969/70 he was a visiting scientist at ETH Zurich , 1980/81 at Harvard University , 1988/89 at the Institute for Advanced Study and 1996/97 at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society .

Hawkins wrote fundamental studies on the origins of the theory of Lie groups (in the theory of differential equations, for which Sophus Lie wanted to develop a theory modeled on Galois theory ), history of representation theory of finite groups, and matrix theory (taking the role of Karl Weierstrasse emphasized to Arthur Cayley ) and modern integration theory .

In 1974 he was invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Vancouver (The theory of matrices in the 19th century) and in 1986 in Berkeley (Cayley's counting problem and the representation of Lie algebras).

Honors

Fonts (selection)

Essays
  • The Theory of Matrices in the 19th Century . In: Ralph D. James (Ed.): Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians , Vancouver, 1974 . CMC, Vancouver 1975, ISBN 0-919558-04-6 , pp. 561-570.
  • Hypercomplex numbers , Lie groups and the creation of group representation theory . In: Archive for History of Exact Sciences , Vol. 8 (1971/72), ISSN  0003-9519 , pp. 243-287.
  • The origin of the theory of group characters . In: Archive for History of Exact Sciences , Vol. 7 (1970), ISSN  0003-9519 , pp. 142-170.
  • New light on Frobenius creation of the theory of group characters . In: Archive for History of Exact Sciences , Vol. 12 (1974), ISSN  0003-9519 , pp. 217-243.
  • Wilhelm Killing and the structure of Lie algebras . In: Archive for History of Exact Science , Vol. 26 (1982), ISSN  0003-9519 , pp. 126-192.
  • Non-euclidean geometry and Weierstrassian mathematics. The background to Killing's work on Lie algebras . In: Historia Mathematica , Vol. 7 (1980), ISSN  0315-0860 , pp. 289-342.
  • From general relativity to group representations, the background of Weyl's papers of 1925-26, in: Michele Audin (Ed.), Matériaux pour l'histoire des mathématiques au XXe siècle Actes du colloque à la mémoire de Jean Dieudonné (Nice 1996), SMF 1998
Books
  • Emergence of the theory of Lie groups. An Essay in the history of Mathematics 1869-1926 (Sources and studies in the history of mathematics and physical series). Springer Verlag, New York 2000, ISBN 0-387-98963-3 .
  • Lebesgues "Theory of Integration". Its origin and development . 2nd ed. Chelsea Books, New York 1979, ISBN 0-8284-0282-5 reprint d. University of Wisconsin Press 1970
  • The mathematics of Frobenius in context. A journey through 18th to 20th century mathematics . Springer, New York 2013, ISBN 978-1-4614-6332-0 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hawkins, Thomas W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hawkins, Thomas William Junior (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mathematician historian
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Flushing