Rolf-Rüdiger Thiele (born 29 April 1943 in Polepp,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

) is a German mathematician and historian of mathematics, known for his historical research on

Hilbert's twenty-fourth problem Hilbert's twenty-fourth problem is a mathematical problem that was not published as part of the list of 23 problems known as Hilbert's problems but was included in David Hilbert's original notes. The problem asks for a criterion of simplicity in ma ...

Education and career

Thiele studied mathematics, physics, and psychology 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 i ...

and received his

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

(Ph.D.) there in 1973. He then worked in the publishing business in Leipzig for

B. G. Teubner Verlag The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Ancient Greek literature, Greek and Latin literature, Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern Collecti ...

and Salomon Hirzel Verlag. From 1986 to 2008 he worked at the ''Karl-Sudhoff-Institut für Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften'' (Karl Sudhoff Institute for the History of Medicine and Natural Sciences) at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. He has held visiting positions at the

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

(from 1992 to 1995 as chair for the history of natural sciences), at TU Darmstadt, at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

(from 1995 to 1996), and at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. In 2001 Thiele

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in the department of mathematics at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

with his work ''Von der Bernoullischen Brachistochrone zum Kalibratorkonzept'' (From the Bernoullian brachistochrone to the calibrator concept). His habilitation thesis was published in the series '' Collection de travaux de l'Académie internationale d'Histoire des Sciences '', Brepols Verlag,

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

. In 2002 he became a

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

in the department of mathematics at the University of Leipzig. In 2004 he was awarded the

Lester R. Ford Award Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name * Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic * Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from Wisc ...

of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

for his expository article on Hilbert's cancelled 24th problem. He discovered the 24th problem in an unpublished notebook among

Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many a ...

's ''

Nachlass ''Nachlass'' (, older spelling ''Nachlaß'') is a German word, used in academia to describe the collection of manuscripts, notes, correspondence, and so on left behind when a scholar dies. The word is a compound in German: ''nach'' means "after" ...

''. Thiele is the vice president of the

Euler Society The Euler Society is an American group that is dedicated to the examination of the life and work of Leonhard Euler. Its first meeting was August 2002, organized after several enthusiasts met at the 2001 Joint Mathematics Meeting The Joint Mathema ...

. His most important works deal with the biographies of

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...

Bartel Leendert van der Waerden Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (; 2 February 1903 – 12 January 1996) was a Dutch mathematician and historian of mathematics. Biography Education and early career Van der Waerden learned advanced mathematics at the University of Amsterd ...

David Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many a ...

Felix Klein Christian Felix Klein (; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and mathematics educator, known for his work with group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the associations between geometry and group ...

. Central topics in his historical research are

analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

and the

calculus of variations The calculus of variations (or Variational Calculus) is a field of mathematical analysis that uses variations, which are small changes in functions and functionals, to find maxima and minima of functionals: mappings from a set of functions t ...

. In his writings Thiele uses numerous previously unpublished sources. In addition to numerous book publications and specialist articles on various questions in the history of mathematics, he has published several books on mathematical games in recreational mathematics (often in collaboration with Konrad Haase).

Selected publications

* ''Leonhard Euler''. BSB B.G.Teubner, Leipzig 1982, . * ''Er rechnete, wie andere atmen. EULERS Beiträge zum Funktionsbegriff''. Euler-Vortrag im Schlosstheater des Neuen Palais von Sanssouci, Potsdam, 21 May 1999
Online-Version

''Hilbert’s Twenty-Fourth Problem.''
In: ''The American Mathematical Monthly.'' January 2003, pp. 1–24. * ''The Mathematics and Science of Leonhard Euler (1707–1783).'' In: Glen van Brummelen, Michael Kinyon (eds.): ''Mathematics and the Historian's Craft''. Springer, New York 2005, , pp. 81–140. * ''Van der Waerden in Leipzig''. (= EAGLE 036). Mit einem Geleitwort von

Friedrich Hirzebruch Friedrich Ernst Peter Hirzebruch ForMemRS (17 October 1927 – 27 May 2012) was a German mathematician, working in the fields of topology, complex manifolds and algebraic geometry, and a leading figure in his generation. He has been described as ...

. Edition am Gutenbergplatz Leipzig, Leipzig 2009,

* ''Felix Klein in Leipzig''. (= EAGLE 047). Edition am Gutenbergplatz Leipzig, Leipzig 2011,

* ''Felix Klein in Leipzig 1880–1886.'' In: ''Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung,'' volume 102, issue 2, 2000, p. 69. * ''Mathematische Beweise.'' Harri Deutsch, 1979. * ''Von der Bernoullischen Brachistochrone zum Kalibrator-Konzept: ein historischer Abriß zur Entstehung der Feldtheorie in der Variationsrechnung.''

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

. Turnhout, Brepols 2007. * with Konrad Haase: ''Der verzauberte Raum- Spiele in drei Dimensionen.'' Urania Verlag, Leipzig 1991. * with Konrad Haase: ''100 Fünf-Minuten-Spiele: Zeitvertreib für Singles.'' Berlin 1990. * ''Die gefesselte Zeit: Spiele, Spaß und Strategien.'' Urania Verlag, 1984. * ''Das große Spielvergnügen: mit Würfeln, Streichhölzern, Papier, Schachfiguren, Dominos und Labyrinthen.'' Hugendubel, 1984.

Sources

* ''Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender 1992'' * ''Marquis Who's Who in the World''

References

External links

Bibliographie Rüdiger Thiele
(as of January 2012)
entry in: ''Vademekum der Geschichtswissenschaften 2006/2007'', p. 628.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiele, Ruediger 20th-century German mathematicians 21st-century German mathematicians German historians of mathematics Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni Leipzig University faculty 1943 births Living people University of Hamburg faculty