Bernhard Riemann his life and wondrous mathematical legacy David E. Rowe

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rowe, David E., 1950- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Riemann, Bernhard, 1826-1866.

Mathematicians.

Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.).

Germany.

Genre:

Biographies

Biographies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland Springer [2026]

Summary:

"This book provides the first detailed account of Riemann's life along with analysis of his major works and their reception. These themes are presented in a chronological flow that takes into account numerous others who played important roles in Riemann's brief life and career. Among the more prominent figures who influenced Riemann's work were Gauss, Dirichlet, and Jacobi, but several others, including the physicist Wilhelm Weber, also played a major part. Special attention is given to the last four years of Riemann's life, which he and his wife Elise mainly spent in Italy, where he died. Her role in supporting Richard Dedekind and Heinrich Weber, the editors of Riemann's posthumous papers, is one of the many new aspects covered in this book.Drawing on family letters and other archival documents, the biographical chapters bring the reader into Riemann's often tumultuous personal life. Money and other mundane problems were a constant cause of concern, but even more serious were the health problems he suffered all his life. Socially awkward, he often withdrew from his peers while seeking solace in his work or that of others. Riemann was a voracious reader, but the present account offers a detailed picture of what he read and when. Plenty of mysteries still remain, but here for the first time one gains a sense of the extraordinary intellectual adventure that dominated Riemann's life.To help orient the reader, the book begins with an Introduction describing the landscape of German mathematics before Riemann arrived on the scene and ending with a chronological list of key events in his life. The remainder of the book has a three-part structure. Part I tells the story of Riemann's life in four chapters, corresponding to four distinct phases in his career. Part II delves into his better-known mathematical works, treated at first chronologically in Chapters 5 to 8. These are followed by an examination of Riemann's work on physical topics in Chapter 9, and closing with Chapter 10, which discusses Gaussian themes and their connections with Riemann's work. Part III deals with aspects of Riemann's legacy in two chapters. Chapter 11 traces the activities of seven important pupils and followers of Riemann up until the early 1880s. Chapter 12 then picks up the story told in the final section of Chapter 4, which describes the initial plans to publish Riemann's Collected Works. How that project was eventually brought to fruition by Dedekind and Weber forms part of the remarkable story of their lifelong friendship"-- Springer Nature Link

Contents:

Introduction : Riemann’s times

Riemann’s formative years, 1826-1847

Years of adventure, 1848-1853

Years of struggle, 1854-1858

Triumph and tragedy, 1859-1866

Riemann’s doctoral dissertation

Riemann’s habilitation texts

Elliptic and Abelian functions

Zeta function and Paris Prize

Mathematical physics

Gaussian influences

Riemann’s pupils and followers

Editing Riemann’s collected works

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Springer Nature Link, viewed May 22, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Rowe, David E., 1950- Bernhard Riemann

ISBN:

9783032254573

3032254574

OCLC:

1592114683

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license