Heinrich Heesch
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Heesch was a German
mathematician
. He was born in Kiel
and died in Hanover
.
In Göttingen
he worked on Group theory
. In 1933 Heesch witnessed the National Socialist
purges among the university staff. Not willing to become member of the National Socialist organization of university teachers as required, he resigned from his university position in 1935 and worked privately at his parent's home in Kiel until 1948.
During this time he did research on tilings
. In 1955 Heesch began teaching at University of Hanover and worked on graph theory
. In this period Heesch did pioneer work in developing methods for a computer-aided proof of the then unproved Four color theorem
. In particular, he was the first to investigate the notion of "discharging", which turned out to be a fundamental ingredient of the eventual computer-aided proof by Kenneth Appel
and Wolfgang Haken
.
Between 1967 and 1971 Heesch came to the United States of America several times, where bigger and faster computers were available and where he worked with Haken and Y. Shimamoto. During the crucial phase of his project, the German national research fund DFG
cancelled financial support. After the 1977 success of Appel and Haken, Heesch worked on refining and shortening their proof, even after his retirement.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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 in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
and died in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
.
In Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
he worked on Group theory
Group theory
In mathematics and abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as groups.The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as rings, fields, and vector spaces can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operations and...
. In 1933 Heesch witnessed the National Socialist
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
purges among the university staff. Not willing to become member of the National Socialist organization of university teachers as required, he resigned from his university position in 1935 and worked privately at his parent's home in Kiel until 1948.
During this time he did research on tilings
Tessellation
A tessellation or tiling of the plane is a pattern of plane figures that fills the plane with no overlaps and no gaps. One may also speak of tessellations of parts of the plane or of other surfaces. Generalizations to higher dimensions are also possible. Tessellations frequently appeared in the art...
. In 1955 Heesch began teaching at University of Hanover and worked on graph theory
Graph theory
In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
. In this period Heesch did pioneer work in developing methods for a computer-aided proof of the then unproved Four color theorem
Four color theorem
In mathematics, the four color theorem, or the four color map theorem states that, given any separation of a plane into contiguous regions, producing a figure called a map, no more than four colors are required to color the regions of the map so that no two adjacent regions have the same color...
. In particular, he was the first to investigate the notion of "discharging", which turned out to be a fundamental ingredient of the eventual computer-aided proof by Kenneth Appel
Kenneth Appel
Kenneth Ira Appel is a mathematician who in 1976, with colleague Wolfgang Haken at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, solved one of the most famous problems in mathematics, the four-color theorem...
and Wolfgang Haken
Wolfgang Haken
Wolfgang Haken is a mathematician who specializes in topology, in particular 3-manifolds.In 1976 together with colleague Kenneth Appel at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Haken solved one of the most famous problems in mathematics, the four-color theorem...
.
Between 1967 and 1971 Heesch came to the United States of America several times, where bigger and faster computers were available and where he worked with Haken and Y. Shimamoto. During the crucial phase of his project, the German national research fund DFG
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...
cancelled financial support. After the 1977 success of Appel and Haken, Heesch worked on refining and shortening their proof, even after his retirement.
Works
- Heinrich Heesch, Untersuchungen zum Vierfarbenproblem, Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1969
- Bigalke, Hans-Günther (Hrsg.). Heinrich Heesch, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, Bad Salzdetfurth 1986.
Literature on Heinrich Heesch's work
- Bigalke, Hans-Günther. Heinrich Heesch, Kristallgeometrie, Parkettierungen, Vierfarbenforschung, Basel 1988.
External links
- http://www.ifg.uni-kiel.de/eckenundkanten/hk-02_de.html Biography (in German)