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When Leonhard Euler first arrived at the Russian Academy of Sciences, at the age of 20, his career was supported and promoted by the Academy's secretary, the Prussian jurist and amateur mathematician Christian Goldbach (1690-1764). Their encounter would grow into a lifelong friendship, as evinced by nearly 200 letters sent over 35 years.
This exchange - Euler's most substantial long-term correspondence - has now been edited for the first time with an English translation, ample commentary and documentary indices. These present an overview of 18th-century number theory, its sources and repercussions, many details of the protagonists' biographies, and a wealth of insights into academic life in St. Petersburg and Berlin between 1725 and 1765.
Part I includes an introduction and the original texts of the Euler-Goldbach letters, while Part II presents the English translations and documentary indices.
List of contents
Preface.- Introduction.- 1 Historical and biographical setting.- 1.1. Christian Goldbach: A short biography.- 1.2. Goldbach and Euler.- 1.3. The Euler-Goldbach correspondence - chronology and statistics.- 2 Main subjects of the correspondence.- 2.1. Number theory.- 2.2. Analytic tools in number theory.- 2.3. Algebra: roots of polynomials and transcendence.- 2.4. Analysis.- 2.5. Geometry, topology, combinatorics.- 2.6. Natural science.- 2.7. Professional life: Academies, prizes, publications.- 2.8. Personal life: family, travel, health.- 3 Editing the Euler-Goldbach correspondence.- 3.1. Description of the manuscript sources.- 3.2. Prior editions.- 3.3. Editorial principles.- Correspondence with Christian Goldbach. Original Texts.- Translations.- Indices: Synoptic Table.- Bibliography.- Systematic Subject Index.- Name Index.
About the author
Der Schweizer Mathematiker, Natur- und Technikwissenschaftler Leonhard Euler (1707-83) prägte mit seinen wegweisenden Resultaten zur Zahlentheorie, Geometrie, Reihenlehre und zur Theorie der Differentialgleichungen die Mathematik seiner Zeit. Euler gilt als bedeutender Vertreter einer mathematisch orientierten Naturwissenschaft, er lieferte u.a. fundamentale Ergebnisse zur Hydrodynamik und zur Mechanik. Zahlreiche Symbole und Bezeichnungen, die nach wie vor in verschiedenen Disziplinen Geltung haben, wurden von Euler eingeführt.
Franz Lemmermeyer hat nach seiner Promotion in Heidelberg und seiner Habilitation in Bonn an Universitäten in den USA und in der Türkei gelehrt, und unterrichtet seit 2007 Mathematik am Gymnasium St. Gertrudis in Ellwangen.
Summary
When Leonhard Euler first arrived at the Russian Academy of Sciences, at the age of 20, his career was supported and promoted by the Academy’s secretary, the Prussian jurist and amateur mathematician Christian Goldbach (1690-1764). Their encounter would grow into a lifelong friendship, as evinced by nearly 200 letters sent over 35 years.
This exchange – Euler’s most substantial long-term correspondence – has now been edited for the first time with an English translation, ample commentary and documentary indices. These present an overview of 18th-century number theory, its sources and repercussions, many details of the protagonists’ biographies, and a wealth of insights into academic life in St. Petersburg and Berlin between 1725 and 1765.
Part I includes an introduction and the original texts of the Euler-Goldbach letters, while Part II presents the English translations and documentary indices.
Additional text
“The present book in the edition of Leonhard Euler's œuvre is concerned with the correspondence of Euler with Christian Goldbach. … The present volume is a pearl in the edition of Euler's correspondence and a must-read for historians of mathematics particularly interested in the history of number theory.” (Thomas Sonar, zbMATH 1361.01008, 2017)
Report
"The present book in the edition of Leonhard Euler's oeuvre is concerned with the correspondence of Euler with Christian Goldbach. ... The present volume is a pearl in the edition of Euler's correspondence and a must-read for historians of mathematics particularly interested in the history of number theory." (Thomas Sonar, zbMATH 1361.01008, 2017)
