Below is an account of my academic genealogy. Information was drawn from the following sources:
Otto Mencke
- Ph.D. Universität Leipzig 1665, 1666
- Dissertation: Ex Theologia naturali—De Absoluta Dei Simplicitate, Micropolitiam, id est Rempublicam In Microcosmo Conspicuam
Founded the first German academic journal, Acta Eruditorum, jointly edited with Leibniz who published his most important mathematical work there.
Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen
- Ph.D. Universität Leipzig 1685
- Dissertation: Disputationem Moralem De Divortiis Secundum Jus Naturae
Son in law of Otto Mencke, while his dissertation was on ethics, Wichmannshausen was primarily an orientalist.
Christian August Hausen
- Dr. phil. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg 1713
- Dissertation: De corpore scissuris figurisque non cruetando ductu
Hausen worked on electrostatics and has a lunar crater named after him.
Abraham Gotthelf Kaestner
- Ph.D. Universität Leipzig 1739
- Dissertation: Theoria radicum in aequationibus
Kaestner’s two most famous works were Mathematische Anfangsgründe and Geschichte der Mathematik. His interest in Euclid’s parallel postulate influenced Gauss. Kaestner had a keen interest in poetry. Gauss said of him, “He is the best poet among mathematicians and the best mathematician among poets”.
For more information see the MacTutor biography.
Johann Tobias Meyer d.J.
- Ph.D. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen 1773
- Dissertation: Kosmographische Nachrichten
Meyer discovered a method of accurately determining longitude at sea using lunar measurement. He also made important contributions to cartography.
Enno Heeren Dirksen
- Ph.D. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen 1820
- Dissertation: Historiae progressuum instrumentorum mensurae angulorum accuratiori interserventium inde a Tob. Meyeri temporibus ad umbratione non de artificio multiplicationis
Dirksen’s most important scientific contributions were Analytische Darstellung der Variations-Rechnung, mit Anwendung derselben auf die Bestimmung des Größten und Kleinsten (Berlin 1823), and Organon der gesamten transcendenten Analysis - Erster Teil (Berlin 1845).
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
- Ph.D. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 1825
- Dissertation: Disquisitiones Analyticae de Fractionibus Simplicibus
Jacobi made basic contributions to the theory of elliptic functions. He carried out important research in partial differential equations of the first order and applied them to the differential equations of dynamics.
For more information see the MacTutor biography
Paul Albert Gordan
- Dr. phil. Universität Breslau 1862
- Dissertation: De Linea Geodetica, (On Geodesics of Spheroids)
Gordan worked with Clebsch on invariant theory and algebraic geometry. He also gave simplified proofs of the transcendence of e and π.
For more information see the MacTutor biography
Emmy Amalie Noether
- Ph.D. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg 1907
- Dissertation: Über die Bildung des Formensystems der ternären biquadratischen Form
Noether’s theorem proves a relationship between symmetries in physics and conservation principles. Her work in the theory of invariants influenced Einsteins’s general theory of relativity. Her work on ideal theory contributed to the development of ring theory.
For more information see the MacTutor Biography
Hans Reichenbach
- Dr. phil. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg 1916
- Dissertation: Der Begriff der Wahrscheinlichkeit für die mathematische Darstellung der Wirklichkeit
A logical positivist, Reichenbach wrote on quantum mechanics, time, induction, probability and the philosophy of science. Among his works are Elements of Symbolic Logic (1947) and The Rise of Scientific Philosophy (1951).
For more information see the MacTutor Biography
Hilary Putnam
- PhD University of California, Los Angeles 1951
- Dissertation: The Meaning of the Concept of Probability in Application to Finite Sequences
Puntam has made important contributions to the philosophy of mind (functionalism, multiple realizability), philosophy of language (externalism), philosophy of mathematics (the indispensability argument), philosophy of science, and metaphysics. he also contributed to the resolution of Hilbert’s tenth problem.
Paul Benacerraf
- PhD Princeton University 1960
- Dissertation: Logicism, Some Considerations
Reacting to the logical positivist views of mathematics, Benacerraf’s criticisms largely set the agenda for the philosophy of mathematics to the present day. Benacerraf is best known for his articles “What Numbers Could Not Be” and “Mathematical Truth”. Together with Hilary Putnam, he edited Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings.
Mark Eli Kalderon
- PhD Princeton University 1995
- Dissertation: Structure and the Concept of Number
Reputation yet to be determined.
