Detlef Laugwitz

Detlef Laugwitz.

Detlef Laugwitz (1932–2000) was a German mathematician, who worked in Differential geometry, History of mathematics, Functional analysis, and Non-standard analysis.

Biography

Starting in 1949, Laugwitz studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy at the Georg-August-University at Göttingen, where he received his doctorate in 1954.^[1] Until 1956 he worked in the Mathematical Research Institute of Oberwolfach. In 1958 he became a lecturer at the Technical University of Munich, where he obtained his Habilitation. In 1958 he moved to the Technical University of Darmstadt, where in 1962 he became a professor, and remained until his retirement. From 1976 to 1984 he was a visiting professor at Caltech.

Work

Laugwitz worked in differential geometry of infinite dimensional vector spaces (his dissertation) and in Finsler geometry. In 1958 he and Curt Schmieden developed their own approach to infinitesimals through field extensions, independently of Abraham Robinson. They described this as "infinitesimal mathematics" and leading back to the historical roots in Leibniz. In 1996 he published the standard biography of Bernhard Riemann.

Footnotes

1. ^ Differential geometry without the axiom of dimension, Mathematische Zeitschrift Bd.61, 1954, p. 100

Publications

• Laugwitz, D. (1989), "Definite values of infinite sums: aspects of the foundations of infinitesimal analysis around 1820", Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 39 (3): 195–245 .

Persondata
Name	Laugwitz, Detlef
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Date of birth	1932
Place of birth
Date of death	2000
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