Minkowski, Hermann (1864–1909)
German mathematician, born in Lithuania, who played an important part in
the early development of relativity
theory. Minkowski was the first to realize that the work of Hendrik
Lorentz and Albert Einstein
could be best understood if space and time,
formerly thought to be separate entities, were treated as part of a four-dimensional
spacetime with a non-Euclidean
geometry. The concept of the spacetime continuum, which provided a framework
for all later mathematical work in relativity, appeared in Minkowski's book
Raum und Zeit (1907). From 1896 to 1902, Minkowski taught at the
Zurich Federal Institute of Technology when Einstein was a student. In fact,
Einstein attended several of the courses he gave but didn't create a good
impression at the time. Minkowski described him as a "lazy dog" who "never
bothered about mathematics at all." In 1902, Minkowski accepted a chair
at the University of Göttingen, where he stayed for the rest of his life.
His main interest was in pure mathematics, including number
theory and geometry, and it was through his understanding of the more
abstract side of mathematics and geometry in more than three dimensions
that he developed the idea of four-dimensional spacetime.
Related entries
• general relativity
• special relativity
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