B. L. van der Waerden
| Bartel Leendert van der Waerden | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 2, 1903 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | January 12, 1996 (aged 92) Zürich, Switzerland |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions |
University of Leipzig University of Zurich University of Groningen |
| Alma mater |
University of Amsterdam University of Göttingen |
| Doctoral advisor | Hendrik de Vries |
| Doctoral students |
David van Dantzig Herbert Seifert |
| Known for |
Van der Waerden notation Van der Waerden number Van der Waerden's theorem Van der Waerden test Van der Waerden's conjecture |
Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (Dutch: [vɑn dər ˈʋaːrdə(n)]; February 2, 1903 – January 12, 1996) was a Dutch mathematician and historian of mathematics.
Van der Waerden learned advanced mathematics at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Göttingen, from 1919 until 1926. He was much influenced by Emmy Noether at Göttingen, Germany. Amsterdam awarded him a Ph.D. for a thesis on algebraic geometry, supervised by Hendrick de Vries. Göttingen awarded him the habilitation in 1928. In that year, at the age of 25, he accepted a professorship at the University of Groningen.
In his 27th year, van der Waerden published his Moderne Algebra, an influential two-volume treatise on abstract algebra, still cited, and perhaps the first treatise to treat the subject as a comprehensive whole. This work systematized an ample body of research by Emmy Noether, David Hilbert, Richard Dedekind, and Emil Artin. In the following year, 1931, he was appointed professor at the University of Leipzig.
During the rise of the Third Reich and through World War II, van der Waerden remained at Leipzig, and passed up opportunities to leave Nazi Germany for Princeton and Utrecht. However, he was critical of the Nazis and refused to give up his Dutch nationality, both of which led to difficulties for him.
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