Johann Gustav Hermes

Johann Gustav Hermes ( 20 June, 1846 - 8 June, 1912) was a German mathematician.

Life

Hermes was born in Königsberg and was educated at the Kneiphöfischen Gymnasium. He undertook his "Abitur" (final examination) at the school in 1866. After completing his secondary education, he studied mathematics from 1866 to 1870, mostly in Königsberg. His studies were interrupted due to his participation in the Franco-Prussian War between 1870–1871, but he was able to complete his studies on December 14, 1872 with a professional degree in mathematics. He received a doctorate on April 5, 1879 for his dissertation on the "Reduction of the problem of cyclotomy on linear equations (for prime numbers of the form 2^m+1)" (German: "Zurückführung des Problems der Kreistheilung auf lineare Gleichungen (für Primzahlen von der Form 2^m+1)").

After a probationary year at the Chernyakhovsk Realgymnasium in 1873, Hermes worked as a teacher at the Progymnasium of the Royal Orphanage of Königsberg in Prussia (German: "Königliches Waisenhaus zu Königsberg in Preußen"). Beginning in 1883 he was an "Oberlehrer" (or upper teacher). In 1893 he became a professor at the Georgianum Gymnasium in Lingen. Finally, on April 1, 1899, he became a professor and director at the Osnabrück Realgymnasium (now named the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasium). On December 31, 1906 he asked for an early retirement from his position due to illness. Hermes died in Bad Oeynhausen on June 8, 1912. He was buried in Osnabrück on June 12.

pecial achievements

In 1894, Hermes completed his decade-long effort to find and write down a procedure for the construction of the regular 65537-gon exclusively with a compass and a straightedge. His manuscript, with over 200 pages, is today located at the Georg-August University of Göttingen.

In his maiden speech as the director at the Osnabrück Realgymnasium on April 11, 1899, he praised the concept of duty of the influential philosopher Immanuel Kant, who was also a resident of Königsberg. He finished with the words "Geduld ist die Pforte der Freude." ("Patience is the gate to joy.")

External links

* [http://dz-srv1.sub.uni-goettingen.de/sub/digbib/loader?did=D266014 Copy of Hermes' dissertation] (German)
* "(About the division of the circle into 65537 equal pieces)"
* [http://dz-srv1.sub.uni-goettingen.de/sub/digbib/doasearch?sa1=Author&sv1=Hermes%2CJ%2E Other publications by Hermes]

Persondata
NAME=Hermes, Johann Gustav
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German Mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH=June 20, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH=Königsberg, Prussia
DATE OF DEATH=June 8, 1912
PLACE OF DEATH=Bad Oeynhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany