Witold Hurewicz
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Witold Hurewicz | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | July 6, 1956 | (aged 52)
Alma mater | University of Vienna |
Known for | Hurewicz theorem Hurewicz space |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Mathematics |
Institutions | Princeton University Radcliffe College Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Thesis | Über eine Verallgemeinerung des Borelschen Theorems (1926) |
Doctoral advisor | Hans Hahn Karl Menger |
Doctoral students | Felix Browder Allen Shields Yael Dowker James Dugundji Barrett O'Neill |
Witold Hurewicz (June 29, 1904 – September 6, 1956) was a Polish mathematician.
Early life and education
Witold Hurewicz was born in
Hurewicz attended school in a German-controlled Poland but with World War I beginning before he had begun secondary school, major changes occurred in Poland. In August 1915 the Russian forces that had held Poland for many years withdrew. Germany and Austria-Hungary took control of most of the country and the University of Warsaw was refounded and it began operating as a Polish university. Rapidly, a strong school of mathematics grew up in the University of Warsaw, with topology one of the main topics. Although Hurewicz knew intimately the topology that was being studied in Poland he chose to go to Vienna to continue his studies.
He studied under
Career
Hurewicz worked first at the
Hurewicz's early work was on set theory and topology. The Dictionary of Scientific Biography states: "...a remarkable result of this first period [1930] is his
.*"In the field of
Hurewicz is best remembered for three remarkable contributions to mathematics: his discovery of the
In the late 1940s, he was the doctoral advisor of Yael Dowker.
Hurewicz had a second textbook published, but this was not until 1958 after his death. Lectures on
He died after participating in the International Symposium on Algebraic Topology [4]at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. He tripped and fell off the top of a Mayan step pyramid during an outing in Uxmal, Mexico. In the Dictionary of Scientific Biography it is suggested that he was "...a paragon of absentmindedness, a failing that probably led to his death."
See also
References
- ^ Samuel Eilenberg, Witold Hurewicz (personal reminiscences)
- .
- .
- ^ Hurewicz, Witold. "Symposium Internacional de Topologia Algebraica". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
External links
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Witold Hurewicz", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Witold Hurewicz at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- .
- ISBN 0-8218-0011-6
- Literature by and about Witold Hurewicz in the German National Library catalogue