Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl

Born: 9 Nov 1885 in Elmshorn (near Hamburg), Germany
Died: 8 Dec 1955 in Zürich, Switzerland


© Oberwolfach photo collection

Hermann Weyl (known as Peter to his close friends) was educated at the universities of Munich and Göttingen. His doctorate was from Göttingen where his supervisor was Hilbert. After submitting a doctoral dissertation Singuläre Integralgleichungen mit besonder Berücksichtigung des Fourierschen Integraltheorems he was awarded the degree in 1908. It was at Göttingen that he held his first teaching post.

From 1913 to 1930 he held the chair of mathematics at Zürich Technische Hochschule, from 1930 to 1933 he held the chair of mathematics at Göttingen and from 1933 until he retired in 1952 he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.

He attempted to incorporate electromagnetism into the geometric formalism of general relativity. Weyl published Die Idee der Riemannschen Fläche (1913) which united analysis, geometry and topology electromagnetic field and the gravitational field appear as geometrical properties of space-time.

From 1923-38 he evolved the concept of continuous groups using matrix representations. With his application of group theory to quantum mechanics he set up the modern subject. He also made contributions on the uniform distribution of numbers modulo 1 which are fundamental in analytic number theory.

More recently attempts to incorporate electromagnetism into general relativity have been made by John Wheeler, Kaluza and others. These theories, like Weyl's, lack the connection with quantum phenomena that is so important for interactions other than gravitation.

Weyl's own comment, although half a joke, sums up his personality.

My work always tried to unite the truth with the beautiful, but when I had to choose one or the other, I usually chose the beautiful.

List of References (25 books/articles)

    1. Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990).
    2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica.

    Books:

    1. K Chandrasekharan (ed.), Gesammelte Abhandlungen Herman Weyl (Berlin- Heidelberg- New York, 1968).
    2. G Frei, Hermann Weyl und die Mathematik an der ETH Zurich, 1913-1930 (Basel, 1992).

    Articles:

    1. P Beisswanger, Die Phasen in Hermann Weyls Beurteilung der Mathematik, Math.-Phys. Semesterber 12 (1965), 132-156.
    2. A Borel, Hermann Weyl and Lie groups, Hermann Weyl, 1885-1985 (Zürich, 1986), 53-82.
    3. C Chevalley and A Weil, Hermann Weyl (1885-1955), Enseignement Math. (2) 3 (1957), 157-187.
    4. A Denjoy, Notice nécrologique sur M Hermann Weyl, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 241 (1955), 1665-1667.
    5. F J Dyson, Obituary: Hermann Weyl, Nature 177 (1956), 457-458.
    6. H Freudenthal, Biographical note on Hermann Weyl (Dutch), Nederl. Akad. Wetensch. Jboek (1955/56), 1-8.
    7. H Freudenthal, Hermann Weyls Lebenswerk zugleich eine Besprechung der Herausgabe seiner gesammelten Abhandlungen, Nieuw Arch. Wisk. (3) 19 (1971), 24-29.
    8. Hermann Weyl memorabilia, Hermann Weyl, 1885-1985 (Zürich, 1986), 83-91.
    9. R König, Hermann Weyl 9. 11. 1885- 9. 12. 1955, Bayer. Akad. Wiss. Jbuch. (1956), 236-248.
    10. Y K Leong, Herman Weyl (1885-1955), Math. Medley 5 (1977), 10-29.
    11. List of publications by Hermann Weyl, Hermann Weyl, 1885-1985 (Zürich, 1986), 109-119.
    12. C Müller, Zum 100. Geburtstag von Hermann Weyl, Jahresberichte der Deutschen Mathematiker vereinigung 88 (4) (1986), 159-189.
    13. M H A Newman, Hermann Weyl, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society of London 3 (1957), 305-328.
    14. M H A Newman, Hermann Weyl, J. London Math. Soc. 33 (1958), 500-511.
    15. R Penrose, Hermann Weyl, space-time and conformal geometry, Hermann Weyl, 1885-1985 (Zürich, 1986), 25-52.
    16. G Pólya, Eine Erinnerung an Hermann Weyl, Math. Z. 126 (1972), 296-298.
    17. E Scholz, Hermann Weyl's contribution to geometry, 1917-1923, The intersection of history and mathematics (Basel, 1994), 203-230.
    18. D Speiser, Hermann Weyl 1885-1955, Physikalische Blatter 42 (2) (1986), 39-44.
    19. D van Dalen, Hermann Weyl's intuitionistic mathematics, Bull. Symbolic Logic 1 (2) (1995), 145-169.
    20. J A Wheeler, Hermann Weyl and the unity of knowledge, Amer. Sci. 74 (4) (1986), 366-375.
    21. C N Yang, Hermann Weyl's contribution to physics, Hermann Weyl, 1885-1985 (Zürich, 1986), 7-21.
With kind permission of The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, St.Andrews, Scotland, created by John J.O'Connor and Edmund F.Robertson.
For additional information see:
http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Weyl.html