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JULIUS WILHELM RICHARD DEDEKIND (1831 - 1916)
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| Richard Dedekind was born on
October 6, 1831, in Brunswick, Germany, the birthplace of
Gauss. Dedekind was the youngest of four children of a
law professor. His early interests were in chemistry and
physics, but he obtained a doctor's degree in mathematics
at the age of 21 (under the instruction of Gauss) at the
University of Göttingen. Dedekind continued his studies
at Göttingen for a few years, and in 1854 he began as a
lecturer. Dedekind spent the years 1858-1862 as a
professor in Zurich. He then accepted a position at an
institute in Brunswick, where he had once been a student.
Although this school was less than university level,
Dedekind remained there for the next 50 years. During his career, Dedekind made numerous fundamental contributions to mathematics. His treatment of irrational numbers, "Dedekind cuts", put analysis on a firm logical foundation. His work on unique factorization led to the modern theory of algebraic numbers. He was a pioneer in the theories of rings and fields. The notion of ideal as well as the term itself are due to Dedekind. Mathematic historian Morris Kline has called him "the effective founder of abstract algebra". Dedekind died in 1916 in Brunswick. Additional information: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Dedekind.html Photo courtesy of http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Thumbnails/Dedekind.jpg
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