Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (February 2, 1903, Amsterdam, Netherlands – January 12, 1996, Zürich, Switzerland) was a Dutch mathematician. February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Amsterdam Location Flag Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 742,951(1 January 2005) Coordinates 52°22′N 4°54′E Website www. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Location within Switzerland â–¶ (help· info) (German pronunciation IPA: ; in English often Zurich, without the umlaut) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. ... Mathematics is often defined as the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. ...

Van der Waerden learned advanced mathematics at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Göttingen, from 1919 until 1926. He was much influenced by Emmy Noether at Göttingen. Amsterdam awarded him a Ph.D. for a thesis on algebraic geometry, supervised by Hendrik de Vries. Göttingen awarded him the habilitation in 1928. From Athenaeum Illustre to University In January 1632 two internationally acclaimed scientists, Caspar Barlaeus and Gerardus Vossius, held their inaugural speech in the Athenaeum Illustre - the illustrious school - which had its seat in the 14th-century Agnietenkapel. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Emmy Noether (born Nöther) (March 23, 1882 – April 14, 1935) was one of the most talented mathematicians of the early 20th century, with penetrating insights that she used to develop elegant abstractions which she formalized beautifully. ... Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which, as the name suggests, combines abstract algebra, especially commutative algebra, with geometry. ... Habilitation is a term used within the university system in Germany, Austria, and some other European countries such as the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Russia, and other countries of former Soviet Union, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kirgizstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc. ...

In his 27th year, Van der Waerden published his Algebra, an influential two-volume treatise on abstract algebra, still cited, and perhaps the first treatise to treat the subject as a comprehensive whole. This work systematized an ample body of research by Emmy Noether, Hilbert, Dedekind, and Emil Artin. In the following year, 1931, he was appointed professor at the University of Leipzig. Abstract algebra is the field of mathematics concerned with the study of algebraic structures such as groups, rings and fields. ... Emmy Noether (born Nöther) (March 23, 1882 – April 14, 1935) was one of the most talented mathematicians of the early 20th century, with penetrating insights that she used to develop elegant abstractions which she formalized beautifully. ... David Hilbert David Hilbert (January 23, 1862 – February 14, 1943) was a German mathematician born in Wehlau, near Königsberg, Prussia (now Znamensk, near Kaliningrad, Russia) who is recognized as one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. ... Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind (October 6, 1831 - February 12, 1916) was a German mathematician and Ernst Eduard Kummers closest follower in arithmetic. ... Emil Artin (March 3, 1898-December 20, 1962) was an Austrian mathematician born in Vienna who spent his career in Germany (mainly in Hamburg) until the Nazi threat when he emigrated to the USA in 1937 where he was at Indiana University 1938-1946, and Princeton University 1946-1958. ... The University of Leipzig (Universität Leipzig), located in Leipzig in the Free State and former Kingdom of Saxony, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. ...

The Third Reich made life difficult for Van der Waerden as a foreigner teaching in Germany, but he refused to give up his Dutch nationality. He filled the chair in mathematics at the University of Amsterdam, 1948-51, then moved to the University of Zurich, where he spent the rest of his career, supervising more than 40 Ph.D. students. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Van der Waerden is mainly remembered for his work on abstract algebra. He also wrote on algebraic geometry, topology, number theory, geometry, combinatorics, analysis, probability and statistics, and quantum mechanics (he and Heisenberg had been colleagues at Leipzig). In his later years, he turned to the history of mathematics and science, writing Ontwakende wetenschap (1950) translated into English as Science Awakening (1954), Geometry and Algebra in Ancient Civilizations (1983), and A History of Algebra (1985). Abstract algebra is the field of mathematics concerned with the study of algebraic structures such as groups, rings and fields. ...

See also

• Van der Waerden's theorem

Van der Waerdens theorem is a theorem of the branch of mathematics called Ramsey theory. ...

External link

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson. Bartel Leendert van der Waerden at the MacTutor archive.