Georg Alexander Pick
Encyclopedia
Georg Alexander Pick was an Austria
n mathematician
. He was born to Josefa Schleisinger and Adolf Josef Pick. He died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Today he is best known for Pick's formula
for determining the area of lattice polygons. He published it in an article in 1899; it was popularized when Hugo Dyonizy Steinhaus included it in the 1969 edition of Mathematical Snapshots.
Pick studied at the University of Vienna
and defended his Ph.D. in 1880 under Leo Königsberger
and Emil Weyr
. After receiving his doctorate he was appointed an assistant to Ernest Mach at the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. He became a lecturer there in 1881. He took a leave from the university in 1884 during which he worked with Felix Klein
at the University of Leipzig
. Other than that year, he remained in Prague until his retirement in 1927 at which time he returned to Vienna.
Pick headed the committee at the (then) German university of Prague which appointed Albert Einstein
to a chair of mathematical physics in 1911. Pick introduced Einstein to the work of Italian mathematicians Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro
and Tullio Levi-Civita
in the field of absolute differential calculus, which later in 1915 helped Einstein to successfully formulate General relativity
.
Charles Loewner
was one of his students in Prague
. He also directed the doctoral theses of Josef Grünwald, Walter Fröhlich, and Saly Struik. Pick was elected a member of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts, but was expelled after Nazis took over Prague
.
After retiring in 1927, Pick returned to Vienna, the city where he was born. After the Anschluss
when the Nazis marched into Austria on March 12, 1938, Pick returned to Prague. In March 1939 the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia. Pick was sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp July 13, 1942. He died there two weeks later.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. He was born to Josefa Schleisinger and Adolf Josef Pick. He died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Today he is best known for Pick's formula
Pick's theorem
Given a simple polygon constructed on a grid of equal-distanced points such that all the polygon's vertices are grid points, Pick's theorem provides a simple formula for calculating the area A of this polygon in terms of the number i of lattice points in the interior located in the polygon and the...
for determining the area of lattice polygons. He published it in an article in 1899; it was popularized when Hugo Dyonizy Steinhaus included it in the 1969 edition of Mathematical Snapshots.
Pick studied at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
and defended his Ph.D. in 1880 under Leo Königsberger
Leo Königsberger
Leo Königsberger was a German mathematician, and historian of science. He is best known for his three-volume biography of Hermann von Helmholtz, which remains the standard reference on the subject.-Biography:...
and Emil Weyr
Emil Weyr
Emil Weyr was an Austria-Hungarian mathematician, known for his numerous publications on geometry.Born in Prague, Weyr attended the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he was taught by Heinrich Durège and Otto Wilhelm Fiedler.- External links :...
. After receiving his doctorate he was appointed an assistant to Ernest Mach at the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. He became a lecturer there in 1881. He took a leave from the university in 1884 during which he worked with Felix Klein
Felix Klein
Christian Felix Klein was a German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, function theory, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the connections between geometry and group theory...
at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
. Other than that year, he remained in Prague until his retirement in 1927 at which time he returned to Vienna.
Pick headed the committee at the (then) German university of Prague which appointed Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
to a chair of mathematical physics in 1911. Pick introduced Einstein to the work of Italian mathematicians Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro
Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro
Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro was an Italian mathematician. He was born at Lugo di Romagna. He is most famous as the inventor of the tensor calculus but published important work in many fields....
and Tullio Levi-Civita
Tullio Levi-Civita
Tullio Levi-Civita, FRS was an Italian mathematician, most famous for his work on absolute differential calculus and its applications to the theory of relativity, but who also made significant contributions in other areas. He was a pupil of Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, the inventor of tensor calculus...
in the field of absolute differential calculus, which later in 1915 helped Einstein to successfully formulate General relativity
General relativity
General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...
.
Charles Loewner
Charles Loewner
Charles Loewner was an American mathematician. His name was Karel Löwner in Czech and Karl Löwner in German.Loewner received his Ph.D...
was one of his students in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. He also directed the doctoral theses of Josef Grünwald, Walter Fröhlich, and Saly Struik. Pick was elected a member of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts, but was expelled after Nazis took over Prague
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
.
After retiring in 1927, Pick returned to Vienna, the city where he was born. After the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
when the Nazis marched into Austria on March 12, 1938, Pick returned to Prague. In March 1939 the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia. Pick was sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp July 13, 1942. He died there two weeks later.
See also
- Nevanlinna–Pick interpolationNevanlinna–Pick interpolationIn complex analysis, Nevanlinna–Pick interpolation is the problem of finding a holomorphic function from the unit disc to the unit disc , which takes specified points to specified points...
- Pick matrix