August Adler was born on January 24, 1863, in Opava, Opava District, Czechoslovakian Republic. He came from a family with academic leanings and pursued mathematics with exceptional rigor, studying at the University of Vienna where he later became a lecturer.
Adler studied at the University of Vienna, where he developed a reputation for elegant geometric reasoning.
From 1894, he worked as a mathematics teacher at a secondary school in Prague. Later, in 1909, he became a professor at a secondary school in Vienna, where he taught until his death. Adler’s career centered on synthetic geometry and the foundations of construction methods. He also contributed to mathematical journals, helping to bridge classical geometry with modern formalism.
His most notable contribution was his 1906 reinterpretation of Lorenzo Mascheroni’s 1797 result—that any geometric construction possible with compass and straightedge can be achieved with compass alone. Adler’s proof, grounded in the principle of inversion, offered a clearer and more rigorous framework, influencing later geometric literature.
