Person: Berwald, Ludwig
Ludwig Berwald was a Czech mathematician who made important contributions to differential geometry.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Ludwig entered the Graben Gymnasium, previously called the Imperial Royal State High School of Prague, in 1893.
- There Ludwig continued his education at the Luitpold Gymnasium, completing his school education in 1902.
- He entered the Royal Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich in the Fall of 1892, where he pursued his studies in mathematics and physics.
- After the award of the doctorate, Berwald was appointed as assistant to Heinrich Burkhardt.
- This should have presented Berwald with the opportunity to work on his habilitation thesis so that he could become a privatdozent in Munich, but sadly he had rather severe health problems.
- With their support, Berwald became a lecturer at the German University in Prague.
- After Pick retired in 1929, Berwald became Head of the Mathematics Department.
- Berwald was tall and slender in statue.
- As a result of his early serious illness Berwald was very prone to colds.
- One could make Berwald very happy if one turned the conversation to his Dalmatian trips - how he loved the hot sun of this stony country.
- Berwald's scientific work was mainly in the area of differential geometry.
- Many people working in Finsler geometry consider that Ludwig Berwald is the founder of Finsler geometry.
- Berwald and E Cartan developed a general theory of two-dimensional Finsler spaces.
- Berwald wrote a series of major papers On Finsler and Cartan geometries.
- On 22 October 1941, Berwald's scientific work came to a close.
- Hedwig Berwald died on 27 March 1942; the cause of death was given as blocked arteries.
- Ludwig Berwald died a few weeks later on 20 April; the cause of death was given as intestinal catarrh and heart failure.
Born 8 December 1883, Prague, Bohemia (now Czech Republic). Died 20 April 1942, Łódź, Poland.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Czech Republic
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
