Richard Courant
Richard Courant | |
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Otto Neugebauer Franz Rellich |
Richard Courant (January 8, 1888 – January 27, 1972) was a German-American
Life and career
Courant was born in
Courant left
In 1936, after one year at
Courant and
Courant's name is also attached to the finite element method,[5] with his numerical treatment of the plain torsion problem for multiply-connected domains, published in 1943.[6] This method is now one of the ways to solve partial differential equations numerically. Courant is a namesake of the Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy condition and the Courant minimax principle.
Courant was an elected member of both the American Philosophical Society (1953) and the United States National Academy of Sciences (1955).[7][8]
Courant died of a stroke in New Rochelle, New York on January 27, 1972, aged 84.[9]
Perspective on mathematics
Commenting upon his analysis of experimental results from in-laboratory soap film formations, Courant explained why the existence of a physical solution does not obviate mathematical proof. Here is a quote from Courant on his mathematical perspective:
Empirical evidence can never establish mathematical existence–nor can the mathematician's demand for existence be dismissed by the physicist as useless rigor. Only a mathematical existence proof can ensure that the mathematical description of a physical phenomenon is meaningful.[10]
Personal life
In 1912, Courant married
In 1919, Courant married Nerina (Nina) Runge (1891–1991), a daughter of the Göttingen professor for Applied Mathematics,
Richard and Nerina had four children: Ernest, a particle physicist and innovator in particle accelerators; Gertrude (1922–2014), a biologist and wife of the mathematician Jürgen Moser (1928–1999); Hans (1924-2019),[12][13] a physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project; and Leonore (known as "Lori," 1928–2015), a professional violist and wife of the mathematician Jerome Berkowitz (1928–1998) and subsequently wife of mathematician Peter Lax until her death.[14]
Publications
- Courant, R. (1937), Differential and Integral Calculus, vol. I, translated by McShane, E. J. (2nd ed.), New York: Interscience, ISBN 978-4-87187-838-8
- Courant, R. (1936), Differential and Integral Calculus, vol. II, translated by McShane, E. J., New York: Interscience, ISBN 978-4-87187-835-7
- Courant, Richard; John, Fritz (1965), Introduction to Calculus and Analysis, vol. I, New York: Interscience, ISBN 978-3-540-65058-4
- Courant, Richard; John, Fritz (1974), Introduction to Calculus and Analysis, vol. II/1, New York: Interscience, ISBN 978-3-540-66569-4
- Courant, Richard; John, Fritz (1974), Introduction to Calculus and Analysis, vol. II/2, New York: Interscience, ISBN 978-3-540-66570-0
- Courant, Richard;
- Courant, Richard;
- Courant, R.; Friedrichs, K. O. (1948), Supersonic Flow and Shock Waves, New York: Interscience[17]
- Courant, Richard; What is Mathematics?, Oxford University Press
References
- ^ John C. Urschel. "Nodal Decompositions of Graphs" (PDF). Math.mit.edu. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
- ISBN 978-3-642-22464-5.
- S2CID 124714271.
- ^ "Best Applied Math Programs". U.S.News.
- S2CID 36031031.
- ^ Courant, Richard (1943). "Variational methods for the solution of problems of equilibrium and vibrations". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 49: 1–24. .
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ "Richard Courant". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ Schwartz, Harry (29 January 1972). "Dr. Richard Courant Dies at 84; Influential Mathematics Scholar". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
- ^ The Parsimonious Universe, Stefan Hildebrandt & Anthony Tromba, Springer-Verlag, 1996, page 148
- ^ "Nelly Neumann". Jewish Women's Archive. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ "Hans Courant, 1924-2019 | School of Physics and Astronomy | College of Science and Engineering". Cse.umn.edu.
- ^ "Hans COURANT Obituary (1924 - 2019) Pioneer Press". Legacy.com.
- ^ "Leonore Marianne Courant Berkowitz 1950 | In Memoriam | Reed Magazine". Reed.edu. December 2015.
- ^ Tamarkin, J. D. (1932). "Review: Methoden der mathematischen Physik, Bd. I, zweite verbesserte Auflage, by R. Courant and D. Hilbert". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 38 (1): 21–22. .
- ^ .
- ^ .
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-387-90194-7.
- Medawar, Jean; Pyke, David (2012). Hitler's Gift: The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61145-709-4.
External links
- Richard Courant at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Richard Courant", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Oral History interview transcript with Richard Courant on 9 May 1962, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
- National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
- 2015 Video Interview with Hans Courant by Atomic Heritage Foundation Voices of the Manhattan Project
- US News Rankings of Applied Mathematics Programs