Felix Bernstein (24 February 1878 in
Halle,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
– 3 December 1956 in
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
,
Switzerland), was a German
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
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 ...
known for proving in 1896 the
Schröder–Bernstein theorem In set theory, the Schröder–Bernstein theorem states that, if there exist injective functions and between the sets and , then there exists a bijective function .
In terms of the cardinality of the two sets, this classically implies that if ...
, a central result in
set theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...
,
[In 1897 (aged 19), according to
] and less well known for demonstrating in 1924 the correct
blood group
A blood type (also known as a blood group) is a classification of blood, based on the presence and absence of antibodies and inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates ...
inheritance pattern of multiple
allele
An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution.
::"The chro ...
s at one
locus
Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to:
Entertainment
* Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front
* ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine
** ''Locus Award' ...
through
statistical analysis.
Life
Felix Bernstein was born in 1878 to a Jewish family of academics. His father
Julius held the Chair of Physiology at the
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...
, and was the Director of the Physiological Institute at the University of Halle.
While still in
gymnasium in Halle, Bernstein heard the university seminar of
Georg Cantor
Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor ( , ; – January 6, 1918) was a German mathematician. He played a pivotal role in the creation of set theory, which has become a fundamental theory in mathematics. Cantor established the importance of ...
, who was a friend of Bernstein's father.
From 1896 to 1900, Bernstein studied in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, Halle,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The ori ...
.
In the early
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
, Bernstein temporarily was Göttingen vice-chairman of the local chapter of
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...
.
[ — Schappacher gives a lot of details from the Göttingen University archive.]
In 1933,
[In 1934, according to O'Connor, Robertson (MacTutor).]
after
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's rise to power, Bernstein was removed from his chair, per §6 of the Nazi
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, often used against politically unpopular persons.
He received the message of his dismissal during a research/lecturing journey (started on Dec. 1st, 1932) to the United States, and he stayed there.
He was a visiting professor of mathematics at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
from 1933 to 1936 and a professor of biometry at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
from 1936 to 1943. In 1942 he was elected a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1948, Bernstein retired from teaching in the US, and returned to Europe.
He mainly lived in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
, occasionally visiting Göttingen,
where he became
professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
.
He died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in
Zurich on 3 December 1956.
Publications
*
* (Dissertation, 1901); reprint Jan 2010,
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* &mdash
Correctionsin Vol.29 (1920), p. 94
*
Notes
See also
*
Cantor–Bernstein theorem
In set theory and order theory, the Cantor–Bernstein theorem states that the cardinality of the second type class, the class of Countable set, countable order types, equals the cardinality of the continuum. It was used by Felix Hausdorff and nam ...
*
Schröder–Bernstein property
References
External links
Biographyat th
Felix-Bernstein-Institute for Mathematical Statistics in the Biosciencesat the
Göttingen University
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The o ...
*
1878 births
1956 deaths
19th-century German mathematicians
20th-century German mathematicians
People from Halle (Saale)
People from the Province of Saxony
19th-century German Jews
Set theorists
University of Göttingen alumni
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
{{Germany-mathematician-stub