Background
Oskar Bolza was born on May 12, 1857, in Bergzabern, Germany, the son of Emil and Luise (König) Bolza.
Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Bolza entered the University of Berlin in 1875, he decided to study physics under Kirchhoff and Helmholtz. After tiring of experimental work, in 1878 Bolza switched to the study of pure mathematics.
Oskar Bolza (12 May 1857 – 5 July 1942) was a German mathematician and student of Felix Klein.
Oskar Bolza, German mathematician
University of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany
Bolza wrote his dissertation on hyperelliptic integrals and received his doctorate from the University of Gottingen in June of 1886.
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1893
(This pioneering modern treatise on the calculus of variat...)
This pioneering modern treatise on the calculus of variations studies the evolution of the subject from Euler to Hilbert. The text addresses basic problems with sufficient generality and rigor to offer a sound introduction for serious study. It provides clear definitions of the fundamental concepts, sharp formulations of the problems, and rigorous demonstrations of their solutions. Many examples are solved completely, and systematic references are given for each theorem upon its first appearance.
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1904
Oskar Bolza was born on May 12, 1857, in Bergzabern, Germany, the son of Emil and Luise (König) Bolza.
At the Gymnasium in Freiburg, he eagerly studied languages and comparative philology, but when he entered the University of Berlin in 1875, he decided to study physics under Kirchhoff and Helmholtz. After tiring of experimental work, in 1878 Bolza switched to the study of pure mathematics. The chief mentor for his mathematical studies at Berlin was Weierstrass, who was particularly interested in the calculus of variations and strongly influenced the course of Bolza’s research.
From 1878 to 1880 Bolza’s studies led him from Berlin to Strasbourg, back to Berlin, and then to Gottingen. After deciding that he wanted to teach, either in a Gymnasium or a university, he interrupted his mathematical studies from 1880 to 1883 in order to prepare for and pass the Staatsexamen, a prerequisite for Gymnasium teaching. From 1883 to 1885 Bolza returned to his mathematical studies, working privately on his doctoral dissertation at the University of Freiburg.
After Felix Klein accepted his dissertation on hyperelliptic integrals, he received his doctorate from Gottingen in June 1886. He followed this with a year’s private seminar with Klein in Gottingen.
After completing his studies at the University of Göttingen, two reasons prompted Bolza to abandon his teaching plans and go to the United States. Friends complained of the lack of time allowed for research in German schools; second, he was not robust and feared that Gymnasium teaching would be too strenuous for him. He had been rejected for military service in 1887. Bolza arrived in the United States in 1888, and in January 1889 he became reader in mathematics at Johns Hopkins University. In October of that same year, he advanced to associate professor in mathematics at Clark University. On 1 January 1893, Bolza became an associate professor of mathematics at the newly founded University at Chicago. He advanced to full professor in the following year.
After 1898 Bolza felt a growing desire to return to Germany. In 1908 the death of Heinrich Maschke, an old college friend, and a colleague at Chicago, severed perhaps the strongest bond that kept him in America. In addition, he felt that America had made great strides in the training of scholars and believed that he should step aside for the increasing number of young American-trained teachers. In 1910, when he left the University of Chicago, he was given the title of nonresident professor of mathematics.
Upon his return to Germany, Bolza studied various subjects. He accepted the position of honorary professor of mathematics at the University of Freiburg, but in a few years World War I turned his prime interest from mathematics to religious psychology and languages, especially Sanskrit. He had grown up in a pre-World War I Europe in which people believed no major war could occur again: all problems would be resolved by reason. The trauma of World War 1 shook the foundations of thought for many, including Bolza; he turned to religious psychology and Sanskrit in search of answers on how to establish a better society.
Bolza studied Sanskrit so that he could read firsthand the literature concerning the religious systems of India. His new interests prompted him to interrupt his mathematical research in 1922 and his class lectures in 1926. Bolza became more and more engrossed in psychological research, and he devoted full time to it from 1926 until 1929. The result of this work was Glaubenlose Religion, which he published in 1931 under the pseudonym F. H. Mameck.
In his final years Bolza remained an active academician. He returned to lecturing on mathematics at the University of Freiburg from 1929 to 1933, when he retired. After his retirement, he continued to publish papers on mathematics and religious psychology. At the request of friends, he wrote a brief autobiography, Aus meinen Leben. As late as 1939 Bolza wrote to friends of his interest in studying the foundations of geometry.
(This pioneering modern treatise on the calculus of variat...)
1904World War I greatly affected Bolza and, after 1914, he undertook no further research in mathematics. He became interested in religious psychology, languages (particularly Sanskrit), and Indian religions.
In 1898 Oskar Bolza was married to Anna Neckel. After the death of his friend Maschke in 1908, Bolza became unhappy in the United States and, in 1910, he and his wife returned to Freiburg in Germany where he was appointed as an honorary professor. Chicago gave him the title of "non-resident professor of mathematics" which he retained for the rest of his life.