George Pólya
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George Pólya (; ; December 13, 1887 – September 7, 1985) was a Hungarian-American
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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at
ETH Zürich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ra ...
and from 1940 to 1953 at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. He made fundamental contributions to
combinatorics Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and as an end to obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many ...
,
number theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...
,
numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic computation, symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of ...
and
probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...
. He is also noted for his work in
heuristics A heuristic or heuristic technique (''problem solving'', '' mental shortcut'', ''rule of thumb'') is any approach to problem solving that employs a pragmatic method that is not fully optimized, perfected, or rationalized, but is nevertheless ...
and
mathematics education In contemporary education, mathematics education—known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics—is the practice of teaching, learning, and carrying out Scholarly method, scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical know ...
. He has been described as one of The Martians, an informal category which included one of his most famous students at ETH Zurich,
John von Neumann John von Neumann ( ; ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist and engineer. Von Neumann had perhaps the widest coverage of any mathematician of his time, in ...
.


Life and works

Pólya was born in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, to Anna Deutsch and Jakab Pólya,
Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...
who had converted to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
in 1886. Although his parents were religious and he was baptized into the Catholic Church upon birth, George eventually grew up to be an agnostic. He received a PhD under Lipót Fejér in 1912, at
Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...
. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at
ETH Zürich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ra ...
in Switzerland and from 1940 to 1953 at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. He remained a professor emeritus at Stanford for the rest of his career, working on a range of mathematical topics, including
series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...
,
number theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...
,
mathematical analysis Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limit (mathematics), limits, and related theories, such as Derivative, differentiation, Integral, integration, measure (mathematics), measure, infinite sequences, series ( ...
,
geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
,
algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...
,
combinatorics Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and as an end to obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many ...
, and
probability Probability is a branch of mathematics and statistics concerning events and numerical descriptions of how likely they are to occur. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1; the larger the probability, the more likely an e ...
. He was invited to speak at the ICM at Bologna in 1928, at Oslo in 1936 and at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1950. On September 7, 1985, Pólya died in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
due to complications of a stroke he suffered during that summer.


Heuristics

Early in his career, Pólya wrote with
Gábor Szegő Gábor Szegő () (January 20, 1895 – August 7, 1985) was a Hungarian-American mathematician. He was one of the foremost mathematical analysts of his generation and made fundamental contributions to the theory of orthogonal polynomials and ...
two influential problem books, '' Problems and Theorems in Analysis'' (''I: Series, Integral Calculus, Theory of Functions'' and ''II: Theory of Functions. Zeros. Polynomials. Determinants. Number Theory. Geometry''). Later in his career, he spent considerable effort to identify systematic methods of problem-solving to further discovery and invention in mathematics for students, teachers, and researchers. He wrote five books on the subject: ''
How to Solve It ''How to Solve It'' (1945) is a small volume by mathematician George Pólya, describing methods of problem solving. This book has remained in print continually since 1945. Four principles ''How to Solve It'' suggests the following steps ...
'', '' Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning'' (''Volume I: Induction and Analogy in Mathematics'', and ''Volume II: Patterns of Plausible Inference''), and ''Mathematical Discovery: On Understanding, Learning, and Teaching Problem Solving'' (volumes 1 and 2). In ''
How to Solve It ''How to Solve It'' (1945) is a small volume by mathematician George Pólya, describing methods of problem solving. This book has remained in print continually since 1945. Four principles ''How to Solve It'' suggests the following steps ...
'', Pólya provides general
heuristics A heuristic or heuristic technique (''problem solving'', '' mental shortcut'', ''rule of thumb'') is any approach to problem solving that employs a pragmatic method that is not fully optimized, perfected, or rationalized, but is nevertheless ...
for solving a gamut of problems, including both mathematical and non-mathematical problems. The book includes advice for teaching students of mathematics and a mini-encyclopedia of heuristic terms. It was translated into several languages and has sold over a million copies. The book is still used in mathematical education.
Douglas Lenat Douglas Bruce Lenat (September 13, 1950 – August 31, 2023) was an American computer scientist and researcher in artificial intelligence who was the founder and CEO of Cycorp, Inc. in Austin, Texas. Lenat was awarded the biannual IJCAI Comp ...
's
Automated Mathematician The Automated Mathematician (AM) is one of the earliest successful discovery systems. It was created by Douglas Lenat in Lisp, and in 1977 led to Lenat being awarded the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award. AM worked by generating and modifying s ...
and
Eurisko Eurisko ( Gr., ''I discover'') is a discovery system written by Douglas Lenat in RLL-1, a representation language itself written in the Lisp programming language. A sequel to Automated Mathematician, it consists of heuristics, i.e. rules of thu ...
artificial intelligence programs were inspired by Pólya's work. In addition to his works directly addressing problem solving, Pólya wrote another short book called ''Mathematical Methods in Science'', based on a 1963 work supported by the National Science Foundation edited by Leon Bowden and published by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in 1977. As Pólya notes in the preface, Bowden carefully followed a tape recording of a course Pólya gave several times at Stanford in order to put the book together. Pólya notes in the preface "that the following pages will be useful, yet they should not be regarded as a finished expression."


Legacy

There are three prizes named after Pólya, causing occasional confusion of one for another. In 1969 the
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) is a professional society dedicated to applied mathematics, computational science, and data science through research, publications, and community. SIAM is the world's largest scientific soci ...
(SIAM) established the George Pólya Prize, given alternately in two categories for "a notable application of combinatorial theory" and for "a notable contribution in another area of interest to George Pólya." In 1976 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 A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...
(MAA) established the George Pólya Award "for articles of expository excellence" published in the '' College Mathematics Journal''. In 1987 the
London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's Learned society, learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh ...
(LMS) established the Pólya Prize for "outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom." In 1991, the MAA established the George Pólya Lectureship series.
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
has a Polya Hall named in his honor.


Selected publications


Books

* '' Aufgaben und Lehrsätze aus der Analysis'', 1st edn. 1925. ("Problems and theorems in analysis“). Springer, Berlin 1975 (with
Gábor Szegő Gábor Szegő () (January 20, 1895 – August 7, 1985) was a Hungarian-American mathematician. He was one of the foremost mathematical analysts of his generation and made fundamental contributions to the theory of orthogonal polynomials and ...
). # ''Reihen''. 1975, 4th edn., . # ''Funktionentheorie, Nullstellen, Polynome, Determinanten, Zahlentheorie''. 1975, 4th edn., . * ''Mathematik und plausibles Schliessen''. Birkhäuser, Basel 1988, # ''Induktion und Analogie in der Mathematik'', 3rd edn., (Wissenschaft und Kultur; 14). # ''Typen und Strukturen plausibler Folgerung'', 2nd edn., (Wissenschaft und Kultur; 15). * – English translation: '' Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning'', Princeton University Press 1954, 2 volumes (Vol. 1: ''Induction and Analogy in Mathematics'', Vol. 2: ''Patterns of Plausible Inference'') * ''Schule des Denkens. Vom Lösen mathematischer Probleme'' ("How to solve it"). 4th edn. Francke Verlag, Tübingen 1995, (Sammlung Dalp). * – English translation: ''
How to Solve It ''How to Solve It'' (1945) is a small volume by mathematician George Pólya, describing methods of problem solving. This book has remained in print continually since 1945. Four principles ''How to Solve It'' suggests the following steps ...
'', Princeton University Press 2004 (with foreword by
John Horton Conway John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician. He was active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many b ...
and added exercises) * ''Vom Lösen mathematischer Aufgaben''. 2nd edn. Birkhäuser, Basel 1983, (Wissenschaft und Kultur; 21). * – English translation: ''Mathematical Discovery: On Understanding, Learning and Teaching Problem Solving'', 2 volumes, Wiley 1962 (published in one vol. 1981) * ''Collected Papers'', 4 volumes, MIT Press 1974 (ed. Ralph P. Boas). Vol. 1: Singularities of Analytic Functions, Vol. 2: Location of Zeros, Vol. 3: Analysis, Vol. 4: Probability, Combinatorics * with R. C. Read: ''Combinatorial enumeration of groups, graphs, and chemical compounds'', Springer Verlag 1987 (English translation of ''Kombinatorische Anzahlbestimmungen für Gruppen, Graphen und chemische Verbindungen'', Acta Mathematica, vol. 68, 1937, pp. 145–254) * with Godfrey Harold Hardy:
John Edensor Littlewood John Edensor Littlewood (9 June 1885 – 6 September 1977) was a British mathematician. He worked on topics relating to analysis, number theory, and differential equations and had lengthy collaborations with G. H. Hardy, Srinivasa Ramanu ...
''Inequalities'', Cambridge University Press 1934
''Mathematical Methods in Science''
MAA, Washington D. C. 1977 (ed. Leon Bowden) * with Gordon Latta: ''Complex Variables'', Wiley 1974 * with Robert E. Tarjan, Donald R. Woods: ''Notes on introductory combinatorics'', Birkhäuser 1983 * with Jeremy Kilpatrick: ''The Stanford mathematics problem book: with hints and solutions'', New York: Teachers College Press 1974 * with several co-authors: ''Applied combinatorial mathematics'', Wiley 1964 (ed. Edwin F. Beckenbach) * with Gábor Szegő
''Isoperimetric inequalities in mathematical physics''
Princeton, Annals of Mathematical Studies 27, 1951


Articles

* * * * *with Ralph P. Boas, Jr.: * *with
Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and philosopher. He became a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener late ...
: * * *


See also

* Integer-valued polynomial * Laguerre–Pólya class * Landau–Kolmogorov inequality * Multivariate Pólya distribution * Pólya's characterization theorem * Pólya class *
Pólya conjecture In number theory, the Pólya conjecture (or Pólya's conjecture) stated that "most" (i.e., 50% or more) of the natural numbers less than any given number have an ''odd'' number of prime factors. The conjecture was set forth by the Hungarian mathe ...
* Polya distribution * Pólya enumeration theorem * Pólya–Vinogradov inequality * Pólya inequality * Pólya urn model * Pólya's theorem * Pólya's proof that there is no "horse of a different color" *
Wallpaper group A wallpaper group (or plane symmetry group or plane crystallographic group) is a mathematical classification of a two-dimensional repetitive pattern, based on the symmetry, symmetries in the pattern. Such patterns occur frequently in architecture a ...
* The Martians (scientists) * Polya's shire theorem


References


External links


The George Pólya Award
* *
George Pólya, Gábor Szegö, ''Problems and theorems in analysis'' (1998)
*
George Pólya on UIUC's WikEd

Memorial Resolution
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polya, George 1887 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Hungarian mathematicians Mathematics popularizers American agnostics American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Hungarian Jews American statisticians Hungarian emigrants to Switzerland Combinatorialists Academic staff of ETH Zurich Hungarian agnostics Hungarian statisticians Complex analysts Mathematical analysts Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Mathematicians from Budapest Swiss emigrants to the United States Stanford University Department of Mathematics faculty