Description
Tells the story of the Finnish-American mathematician Lars Ahlfors (1907-1996). He was educated at the University of Helsinki as a student of Ernst Lindelof and Rolf Nevanlinna and later became a professor there. He left Finland permanently in 1944 and was professor and emeritus at Harvard University for more than fifty years.
At the age of twenty-one Ahlfors became a well-known mathematician having solved Denjoy's conjecture, and in 1936 he established his world renown when he was awarded the Fields Medal, the "Nobel Prize in mathematics". In this book the description of his mathematics avoids technical details and concentrates on his contributions to the general development of complex analysis.
Besides mathematics there is also a lot to tell about Ahlfors. World War II marked his life, and he was a colorful personality, with many interesting stories about him. Olli Lehto, the author of the book, first met Lars Ahlfors and his family as a young doctor at Harvard in 1950. Numerous meetings after that in various parts of the world led to a close friendship between them.
About the Author
Olli Lehto, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Reviews
Ahlfors was a living legend, and although he was known to outsiders, i.e. non analysts, primarily through the effect of his [classic text on complex analysis], there was, and is, a lot more to be told about his fascinating life. We now have a compact, readable, and mathematically meaningful biography by Olli Lehto, another Finn, another analyst, another member of Nevanlinna's circle, and a very close friend of Ahlfors. It doesn't get any better than that." - MAA Online
"...Olli Lehto has given us a first-rate biography, running from a brief review of Ahlfors' ancestry through to his centennial celebration. Lehto has succeeded in avoiding the twin pitfalls of so much information as to risk being tedious, or so much brevity as to leave the reader with nothing to work with. Instead we are given enough insight to feel that we have got to know Ahlfors as a person, and some notion of the mathematics he created. We also get some understanding into the world events which helped shaped Ahlfors' life and career, and the many eminent mathematicians, particularly from complex analysis, with whom he worked over the course of his long research career." - London Mathematical Society Newsletter
Book Information
ISBN 9781470418465
Author Olli Lehto
Format Paperback
Page Count 125
Imprint American Mathematical Society
Publisher American Mathematical Society
Weight(grams) 340g
At the age of twenty-one Ahlfors became a well-known mathematician having solved Denjoy's conjecture, and in 1936 he established his world renown when he was awarded the Fields Medal, the "Nobel Prize in mathematics". In this book the description of his mathematics avoids technical details and concentrates on his contributions to the general development of complex analysis.
Besides mathematics there is also a lot to tell about Ahlfors. World War II marked his life, and he was a colorful personality, with many interesting stories about him. Olli Lehto, the author of the book, first met Lars Ahlfors and his family as a young doctor at Harvard in 1950. Numerous meetings after that in various parts of the world led to a close friendship between them.
About the Author
Olli Lehto, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Reviews
Ahlfors was a living legend, and although he was known to outsiders, i.e. non analysts, primarily through the effect of his [classic text on complex analysis], there was, and is, a lot more to be told about his fascinating life. We now have a compact, readable, and mathematically meaningful biography by Olli Lehto, another Finn, another analyst, another member of Nevanlinna's circle, and a very close friend of Ahlfors. It doesn't get any better than that." - MAA Online
"...Olli Lehto has given us a first-rate biography, running from a brief review of Ahlfors' ancestry through to his centennial celebration. Lehto has succeeded in avoiding the twin pitfalls of so much information as to risk being tedious, or so much brevity as to leave the reader with nothing to work with. Instead we are given enough insight to feel that we have got to know Ahlfors as a person, and some notion of the mathematics he created. We also get some understanding into the world events which helped shaped Ahlfors' life and career, and the many eminent mathematicians, particularly from complex analysis, with whom he worked over the course of his long research career." - London Mathematical Society Newsletter
Book Information
ISBN 9781470418465
Author Olli Lehto
Format Paperback
Page Count 125
Imprint American Mathematical Society
Publisher American Mathematical Society
Weight(grams) 340g
