Edwin Henry Spanier (August 8, 1921 – October 11, 1996) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, working in

algebraic topology Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...

. He co-invented

Spanier–Whitehead duality In mathematics, Spanier–Whitehead duality is a duality theory in homotopy theory, based on a geometrical idea that a topological space ''X'' may be considered as dual to its complement in the ''n''-sphere, where ''n'' is large enough. Its or ...

and

Alexander–Spanier cohomology In mathematics, particularly in algebraic topology, Alexander–Spanier cohomology is a cohomology theory for topological spaces. History It was introduced by for the special case of compact metric spaces, and by for all topological spaces, ba ...

, and wrote what was for a long time the standard textbook on algebraic topology . Spanier attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, graduating in 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1947 for the thesis ''Cohomology Theory for General Spaces'' written under the direction of

Norman Steenrod Norman Earl Steenrod (April 22, 1910October 14, 1971) was an American mathematician most widely known for his contributions to the field of algebraic topology. Life He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and educated at Miami University and University of ...

. After spending a year as a research fellow at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, in 1948 he was appointed to the faculty of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, and then a professor at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

in 1959. He had 17 doctoral students, including

Morris Hirsch Morris William Hirsch (born June 28, 1933) is an American mathematician, formerly at the University of California, Berkeley. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Hirsch attained his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1958, under supervision of ...

and

Elon Lages Lima Elon Lages Lima (July 9, 1929 – May 7, 2017) was a Brazilian mathematician whose research concerned differential topology, algebraic topology, and differential geometry. Lima was an influential figure in the development of mathematics in Brazil. ...

Publications

References

* Retrieved on 2008-01-17 * Retrieved on 2008-01-17
Obituary
at the

Notices of the American Mathematical Society ''Notices of the American Mathematical Society'' is the membership journal of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), published monthly except for the combined June/July issue. The first volume appeared in 1953. Each issue of the magazine since ...

Photos
at the

Mathematical Research Institute of Oberwolfach The Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics (german: Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach) is a center for mathematical research in Oberwolfach, Germany. It was founded by mathematician Wilhelm Süss in 1944. It organizes weekl ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spanier, Edwin 20th-century American mathematicians Topologists University of California, Berkeley faculty University of Chicago faculty University of Minnesota alumni University of Michigan alumni United States Army personnel of World War II Academics from Washington, D.C. 1921 births 1996 deaths Fair division researchers