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  • 8/11/2019 Documenting Riemann'SCOMPLEX

    1/8

    E N E U E N S C H W N D E R

    Docum enting R iem ann s

    Im pact on tho Theory of

    C om plex Functions

    long w~th Euler Gauss and HzIbert Ber nhard R~emann ~s one of the mos t ~llus-

    tmous m ath ema tic ian s of all t~me H~s pro min enc e ~n the fie ld of complex analy-

    s~s may be appreciated s~mply by noting that ~n the

    athemat~sches Worterbuch

    by Naas-Schmld [1961, Vol 2,510-524], the ent nes relate d

    to Rmmann's function-theoretical work (Rmmann map-

    ping theorem, R mmann differential equation, Rmmann sur-

    face, Rlemann-Roch theorem, Rmmann theta-functlon,

    Rmmann sphere, Rmmann zeta-function, etc ) take up al-

    most as much space as those related to all the work of

    Euler or Gauss m total Rmmann's contnbu tlon to com-

    plex analysis rests, on the one hand, on his publications,

    especially his inaugural dissertation on the foundations of

    complex analysis (1851) and his articles on the theory of

    hypergeometnc and Abehan functions (1856-57), but his

    several lecture courses in this field are also very impor-

    tant

    These were given in the yea rs fr om 1855 to 1862, and

    regularly began with an introductor y general part Rmmann

    then tur ned either to the theor y of elliptic and Abehan func-

    tions or to hypergeometnc series and related transcen-

    dental functions Much of the more advanced parts of

    Rmmann's courses were published m his Collected Papers

    [Rmmann 1990, 599-692] and m a boo k by H Stahl

    [Rlemann 1899], but not his intro ducto ry lectures o n gen-

    eral compl ex analysis Thus the latter gradually fell into

    obhwon, despite their lntnnslc interest, and despite their

    declsl've influence on later developments through the

    closely related wntmgs of Dur~ge, Hankel, Koemgsberger,

    Neumann, Prym, Roch, and Thomae It there fore seemed

    appropnate to publish them m a cntmal edition

    [Neuenschwander 1996], m order to make them accessible

    to a broader circle of readers For this edition, I also pre-

    pared an extensive bibliography of the history of the m~-

    pact and influence of Rmmann's function theory

    This newly assembled blbhography is mamly intended to

    close---at least m the field of complex analysis--the con-

    slderable gap existing between the blb hograplues of Purkert

    and Neuenschwander, which were appended to the reprint

    of Bernh ard R~eman n s Gesam melte Mathemat~sche Werke

    [Rmmann 1990] The penod from 1892 to 1944, not system-

    atically co~ered there, was scrutnuzed, usmg the indexes of

    names m B~blwtheca Mathematzca (1887-1914), and the

    Revue semestr~elle des Publ wat wns mathdmat~ques (1893-

    1934/35), and ex ammmg the sections on Gescluchte und

    Plulosoptue and Funktlonentheone (or Analysis ) m the

    abstractmg journal Jahrbuch uber dze Fortschmtte der

    Mathe~nahk (1868/71-1942/44) Additionally, I consulted

    the holdings of older books in the libraries of the Institutes

    of Mathematics at the Umversmes o f Gottmgen and Zurich

    Generally, I included only publl cano ns which co ntmned ex-

    plw~t reference to Rmmann's work (e g, quotations with

    9 1 9 9 8 S P R I N G E R V E R L A G N E W Y O R K V O L U M E 2 0 N U M B E R 3 1 9 9 8 1 9

  • 8/11/2019 Documenting Riemann'SCOMPLEX

    2/8

    e x a c t i n d i c a t i o n o f l o c a t i o n ) , b u t e v e n t h i s c r l t e n o n l e f t

    m o r e t h a n 1 ,0 00 o u t o f t h o s e 8 ,0 0 0 ti t l e s p r o v i s i o n a l l y s e -

    l e c t e d o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e r e w e w s a n d t h e s y s t e m a t i c h -

    b r a r y i n s p e c ti o n , t h e o n g m a l s w e r e t h e n l o o k e d u p , to

    m a k e s u r e t h at t h e y m e t t h e c o n d m o n s f o r i n c lu s i o n

    N a t u r a ll y , t h e n e w b l b h o g r a p h y Ls m n o w a y c o m p r e h e n -

    s w e T h e h t e r a tu r e w [ u c h r e f e r s t o R m m a n n ' s p i o n e e n n g w o r k

    i s a l m o s t b o u n d l e s s P u r k e r t , fo r e x a m p l e , e x a m i n i n g a b o u t

    t e n j o u r n a l s f r o m t h e f i r st 2 5 y e a r s a f t e r t h e d e a t h o f B e r n h a r d

    R i e m a n n , a l r e a d y f o u n d m o r e t h a n 5 00 p u b h c a t m n s r e f e r ri n g

    t o t u s w o r k A c c o r d i n g to d a t a b a s e s u r v ey s , t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n

    a n d e x t e n s i o n o f P u r k e r t ' s re s e a r c h u p t o t h e p r e s e n t w o u l d

    h a v e t o t a k e i n t o a c c o u n t a b o u t 3 0, 00 0 p u b h c a t m n s , a l l o f

    w [ u c h o b w o u s l y c a n n o t b e e x a m m e d m c hv ~ du al ly w i t h i n a r e a -

    s o n a b l e t u n e N e v e r t h e le s s , I h o p e t h a t t h e n e w b l b h o g r a p h y

    w i l l b e c o m e a u s e f u l t o o l f o r f u r t h e r m v e s U g a t ~ o ns

    I n t h e f o l l o w i n g I w i l l t r y t o i l l u s t r a t e s o m e o f i t s p o s -

    s i b l e a p p li c a t i o n s , b y s u r v e y m g t h e i m p a c t o f R i e m a n n ' s

    f u n c t i o n - t h e o r e t i c a l w o r k m t h e f o u r m o s t i m p o r t a n t

    E u r o p e a n c o u n t r i e s G e r m a n y , F r a n c e , I t al y , a n d G r e a t

    B n t m n S p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n w i ll b e g i v en t o th e d e v e l o p m e n t s

    i n G r e a t B n t m n b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e n o t y et b e e n a n a l y s e d

    i n d e t a i l F o r m o r e s p e c i f i c m f o r m a U o n , t h e r e a d e r m a y

    t u r n t o t h e b i b l i o g r a p h y i ts e l f

    G e r m a n y : E a r l y a n d S u s t a i n e d R e c e p t i o n o f

    R i e m a n n s M e t h o d s

    F o r a p r e h m m a r y n n p r e s s l o n o f t h e s i t u at i on m G e r m a n y , l e t

    u s f i rs t l o o k a t t h e r e f e r e n c e s t o R m m a n n ' s w o r k m A u g u s t

    L e o p o l d C r e l l e 's m f l u e n t l a l Journal fu r d~e re,he u nd ange-

    wandte Mathemat~k I t ~s n o t e w o r t h y t h a t t h e f i r st o f t h e s e

    r e f e r e n c e s g o e s b a c k t o H e l m h o l tz [Crelle 5 5 ( 1 8 5 8 ) , 2 5 - 5 5 ] ,

    w h o , a s w e k n o w , l a t e r d i s c u s s e d R l e m a n n ' s h y p o t h e s e s

    c o n c e r m n g t h e f o u n d a t io n s o f g e o m e t r y H e l m h o l t z w a s

    f o l l o w e d i n c h r o n o l o g i c a l o r d e r b y l _ a p s c [ u t z , C l e b s c h ,

    C h n s t o f f e l , S c h w a r z , B n l l , F u c h s , G o r d a n , L u r o t h , a n d

    W e b e r , a l l o f w h o m , e v e n t h o u g h t h e y w e r e n o t R m m a I m ' s

    i m m e d i a t e p u p i ls , d i d a g r e a t d e a l t o d ~ s s e m i n a t e tu s i d e a s ,

    a s d i d [ u s o w n s t u d e n t s R o c h , T h o m a e , a n d P r y m

    [Crelle

    6 1 ( 1 8 6 3 ) - 7 0 ( 18 6 9) ] C l e b s c h a n d B r l l l - - h k e K l e in a n d

    N o e t h e r - - p u b h s h e d t h e i r la t e r w o r k p r i m a r i l y in t h e

    Mathemat~sche Annalen , w h i c h s t a r t e d t o a p p e a r m 1 86 9,

    t h u s , c o n s u l t i n g C r e l l e ' s Journal a l o n e p r o w d e s o n l y m -

    c o m p l e t e r e s u l t s f o r t h e m A c c o r d i n g t o o u r b i b l i o g r a p h y ,

    o t h e r i m p o r t a n t e a r ly p r o m o t e r s o f R m m a n n 's i d e a s m t h e

    G e r m a n - s p e a k i n g w o r l d w e r e C a n t o r , D e d e k m d , D u B o ls -

    R e y m o n d , D u r ~ g e, H a n k e l, K o e m g s b e r g e r , N e u m a n n ,

    S c h l a f h , a n d , m [ u s l a t e r y e a r s , S c h o t t k y i

    I ta l y : E n t h u s i a s t i c A p p r e c i a t i o n o f R i e m a n n s W o r k

    A n ~ m p r e ss i ve p m t u r e o f th e e x t e n t t o w [ u c h R m m a n n ' s w o r k

    w a s a p p r e c i a t e d m I t a l y i s g w e n b y a s i m i l a r s t u d y o f t h e r e f-

    e r e n c e s t o [ u s w r i t i n g s m t h e Annal~ dz Matematwa pura

    ed apphcata,

    a j o u r n a l w h i c h p l a y e d a n o u t s t a n d i n g r o l e m

    t h e d m s e m m a t i o n o f R i e m a n n ' s t h o u g h t s A s e a r ly a s 18 59 ,

    E n r i c o B e t t l, w h o w a s t o b e c o m e R i e m a n n ' s f r i en d , t r a n s -

    l a t ed [ u s & s s e r t a t m n [Annalz 2 ( 1 8 5 9 ) , 2 8 8 - 3 0 4 , 3 3 7 - 3 5 6 ] , t o

    w h i c h h e s o o n r e t u r n e d m a n e x t e n s i v e a r t i c le o n th e t h e -

    o r y o f e l l i p t i c f u n c t i o n s [Annah 3 ( 1 8 6 0 ) , 6 5 - - 1 5 9 , 2 9 8 - 3 1 0 ,

    4 ( 1 86 1 ), 2 6 - 4 5 , 5 7 - 7 0 , 29 7 - 3 3 6 ] I n t h e s a m e v o l u m e s , w e

    a l s o f in d a r e p o r t b y B e t ti o n R i e m a n n ' s t r e a t i s e c o n c e r n -

    m g t h e p r o p a g a t i o n o f p la n a r m r w a v e s

    [Annah

    3 ( 1 8 6 0 ) ,

    2 3 2 -2 4 1 ], a n d a r e p o r t b y A n g e l o G e n o c c [ u o n R i e m a n n ' s

    i n v e s t i g a ti o n o f th e n u m b e r o f p r i m e s l e s s t h a n a g i v e n

    b o u n d

    [Annals

    3 ( 1 8 6 0 ), 5 2 - 5 9 ] I n a l a t e r v o l u m e o f t h e

    s a m e j o u r n a l [Annalz ( 2 ) 3 ( 1 8 6 9 - 7 0 ) , 3 0 9 - 3 2 6 ] , w e f i n d a

    F r e n c h t r a n s l a t i o n o f R m m a n n ' s h y p o t h e s e s o n t h e fo u n -

    d a t io n s o f g e o m e t r y b y t h e F r e n c h m a t h e m a t i c i a n J u l e s

    H o u e l, w h o t y p i c a l l y d i d n o t p u b h s h [ u s t r a n s l a t m n i n a

    F r e n c h j o u r n a l , b u t i n t heAnnah W e s h o u l d a l s o m e n t i o n

    E u g e m o B e l t r a m l a n d F e h c e C a s o r a t i , t h e l a t t e r h a v m g a l -

    r e a d y p r e s e n t e d R m m a n n ' s t h e o r i e s m 1 86 8 m a b o o k

    [ C a s o r a t i 1 86 8] a n d m s p e c i a l l e c t u r e s g i v e n m M i l a n

    [ A r m e n a n t e & J u n g 1 86 9, C a s o r a U & C r e m o n a 1 86 9] I n w e w

    o f t[ u s e x c e l l e n t m t r o d u c t i o n a n d t r m l - b l a zm g , i t i s n o t s u r -

    p n s m g t h a t R m m a n n ' s t h e o r i e s w e r e w i d e l y k n o w n m I t a ly ,

    a n d t h a t t h e y w e r e q u o t e d m m o r e t h a n t h u - ty a r t i c l e s m t h e

    Annalz a l o n e u p t o 1 89 0 2 A s t o R m m a n n ' s o w n s t a y s m I t a ly ,

    a n d o t h e r f o l l o w e r s o f R I e m a n n t h e r e , s e e t h e a r t i c l e s o f

    B o t t a z z n u , D m u d o n n ( , L e n a , N e u e n s c h w a n d e r , S c h e r m g ,

    T n c o n u , V o l t e r r a , a n d W e I1 c i t e d m t h e b i b l i o g r a p h y

    F r a n c e : H e s i t a n t R e c e p t i o n

    In France, the s i tualaon was ra hcaUy di f ferent Skmmung

    t h r o u g h t h e p a g e s o f th e Journal de Mathdmat~ques pures et

    apphqudes e & t e d b y J o s e p h L l o uv l ll e , o n e f i n d s a l m o s t n o r e f-

    e r e n c e s t o R ] e m a n n ' s p a p e r s b e f o r e 1 87 8, a n d m o t h e r F r e n c h

    p u b h c a t~ o n s u p t o 1 88 0 th e y a l s o s e e m t o b e r e l a a v e l y s p a r s e

    F u r t h e r m o r e , a c e r t m n c n t ] c a l r e s e r v e a s t o t h e u s e f u l n e s s

    o f R m m a n n ' s m e t h o d s q u i t e o f te n c o m e s t h r o u g h B n o t a n d

    B o u q u e t, f o r i n s t a n c e , w r i t e i n t h e f o r e w o r d t o th e s e c o n d

    e d i t i o n o f t h e i r Thdor~e des fo nc tw ns ell~pt~ques [ B n o t &

    B o u q u e t 1 8 75 , I f ]

    In Cauchy s theory, the path of the ~mag~nary [complex]

    vartable ~s characterized by the movement of a point on

    a plane To represent thosefunc tzons whzch assume sev-

    eral values fo r the same value of the vamable, Rzem ann

    regarded the plane as for med of several sheets, sup emm-

    posed and welded together, ~n order to aUow the vartable

    to pas s fro m one sheet to another, wh~le t~avers~ng a con-

    nect~ng [branch] hn e The concept of a many-s heet ed sur-

    fac e presen ts some d~ffienlt~es, despzte the beautiful re-

    sults whwh R~emann achieved by th~s method, ~t dzd not

    seem to us to offer any adv antage fo r our own ob2ectwe

    Cauchy s zdea ~s very suitable for representing multi-

    valued fu nc tw ns , ~t ~s suffw~ ent to 2ozn to the value of

    the variable the corresponding value of the functzon, and

    1For b~bl~ographrcal detatls on part icular ar t icles by these authors c~t~ng R~emann see [Neuenschwander 199 6 131 2 32]

    2The authors o f other ar ttc les in the nnah containing references to R~emann are Asco h Beltramt C asoratl Cesaro Chnstoffe l Dtn l Ltpsch~tz Pascal Schlafh Schwarz

    Tonelh Volterra etc For detai ls see [Neuenschwander 1996]

    2

    THE MATHEMATICAL NTELLIGENCER

  • 8/11/2019 Documenting Riemann'SCOMPLEX

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    w h e n t h e v a ~ a b l e h a s d e s c r i b e d a c l o s e d

    c u r v e a n d t h e v a l u e o f t h e f u n c t w n h a s

    t h e r e b y c h a n g e d , t o ~n d z c a te t h z s c h a n g e b y

    a n ~ n d e x

    O n l y H o u e l, m e n t m n e d a b o v e , t r i e d q ui te

    e a r l y t o p r o m o t e R l e m a n n s ~ d ea s, a n d , t o -

    g e t h e r w i t h G a s t o n D a r b o u x , h e s e v e r a l U m e s

    d e p l o r e d t h e i r n o t b e i n g b e t t e r k n o w n m

    F r a n c e [ G l s p e r t 1 9 8 5 , 3 8 6 - 3 9 0 e t p a s s i m ] A

    r e w e w o f H o u e l s p m n e e n n g b o o k m t h i s f ie ld

    [ H o u e l 1 8 6 7 - 1 8 7 4 , p a r t s 1 a n d 2 (1 8 6 7 / 6 8 ) ] c o n -

    c l u d e s w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g , q u i t e m s t r u c t w e

    p a s s a g e [ N o u ve l le s A n n a l e s d e M a t h e m a -

    t ~ q u e s ( 2 ) 8 ( 1 8 6 9 ) , 1 3 6 - 1 4 3 ]

    M a y t h e ~ e c e p t w n o f t h~ s w o r k e n c o u r a g e t h e

    a u t h o ~ t o k e e p h ~s p r o m ~ s e t o g ~ v e u s, z n a t h u d

    p ar t~ a n e x p o s z t w n o f R z e m a n n s t h eo r i es ,

    w h i c h u p to n o w h a v e b e en a l m o s t u n k n o w n

    ~ n o u t c o u n t r y , a n d w h w h o u t n e i g h b o u r s c u l-

    t w a t e u u t h s o m u c h a r d o u r a n d s u c c e s s ~

    @

    lO

    I n s p i t e o f H o u e l s e f f o r t s , t h e s i t u a t i o n m ~ s ~

    rance seems to have changed fundamentally

    o n l y a f t e r 1 88 0, w h e n a n e w g e n e r a t i o n o f

    F r e n c h m a t h e m a h c m n s t o o k o v e r, t h e m o s t / ~ /

    p r o m i n e n t a m o n g t h e m w e r e H e n r i P o m c a r e ~

    ( 1 8 5 4 - 1 9 1 2 ) , P a u l A p p e l l (1 8 5 5 - 1 9 3 0 ) , E m i l e

    P l c a r d ( 1 8 5 6 - 1 9 4 1 ), a n d l ~ d o u a r d G o u r s a t

    ( 1 8 5 8- 1 9 3 6) W i t h t h e s e a u t h o r s t h e r e c e p t m n

    o f th e w o r k s o f R m m a n n s f o l lo w e r s ( m m n l y

    C l e b s c h a n d F u c h s ) n o w b e g a n t o l e a d t o a

    m o r e t h o r o u g h r e a d m g o f R m m a n n s o w n w n t -

    m g s - - a s n u m e r o u s q u o t a t i o n s m th e i r p u b h c a -

    t m n s p r o v e A s a m a m f e s t a t ] o n o f t h e m c r e a s -

    m g a p p r e c l a O o n o f R m m a n n s m e t h o d s a m o n g

    F r e n c h m a t h e m a t m m n s a t t h a t t u n e, w e m a y

    t a k e t h e f a c t th a t , m 1 88 2, G e o r g e s S n n a r t w r o t e

    a d i s s e r t a t a o n o f 1 23 p a g e s , n o w a l m o s t c o m -

    p l e t e l y f o r g o t t e n , m w h i c h h e t r i e d t o a c q u a i n t F r e n c h m a t h -

    e m a t m m n s w ~ t h R m m a n n s f u n c t m n - t h e o r e t~ c a l tr e a t i s e s I n

    S L m a r t s m t r o d u e t m n , w e f i n d th e f o l l o w m g s t a t e m e n t , w t u c h

    c o n f i r m s m y o w n a s s e s s m e n t [ S u n a r t 1 88 2, 1 ]

    ~

    d c . / 4 Y 3 7

    g z/ / ,Z. /7 3 J-

    / 1~ 3 . , / -,4- d 7

    F , g u r e 1 D , s c u s s , o n a n d r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f a b r a n c h p o i n t o f a n a l g e b r a i c f u n c t , o n

    o n a R l e m a n n s u r f a ce , t a k e n f r o m R m m a n n s l e c t u r e s ,n th e s u m m e r s e m e s t e r o f

    1 8 61 T h e r e p r o d u c e d p a g e c o m e s f r o m a s e t o f l e c t u re n o t e s m a d e b y E d u a rd

    S c h u l t z e w , t h a n n o t a t i o n s b y H e r m a n n A m a n d u s S c h w a r z , , t , s k e p t , n t h e S c h w a r z

    N a c h l a s s a t th e A r c h w d e r B e r | , n - B r a n d e n b u r g , sc h e n A k a d e m , e d e r W , s s e n s c h a f t e n

    , n B e r l ,n T h e r e e x , s t s a s , m , l a r r e p r e s e n t a t m n m t h e ( p r o b a b l y ) o r , g , n a l n o t e s b y

    S c h u l t z e w h , c h a r e n o w k e p t m t h e R a r e B o o k a n d M a n u s c r , p t L i b r a ry a t C o l u m b , a

    U n , v e r s lt y , n N e w Y o r k B o t h m a n u s c r , p t s w e r e d , s c o v e r e d b y t h e a u t h o r , i n 1 9 79

    a n d 1 9 8 6 , r e s p e c t , v e l y F o r f u r t h e r , n f o r m a t , o n a n d a t r a n s c r , p b o n o f t h e t e x t , s e e

    N e u e n s c h w a n d e r 1 9 8 8 a n d 1 9 9 6 , p p 7 5 f a n d 84 , M S S a n d

    s

    M e m o i r s ~ eq u~ re s a k n o w le d g e o f R w m a n n ~ a n s u r f a ce s

    [ a n d t h u s, f ~ n a U y , o f R ~ e m a n n s o w n w r t t ~ n g s ] , t h e u s e

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    w e t s 1 ~ e s

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    a n a l y tz e f u n c t w n s a n d t he t he o r q o f A b e h a n f u n c t w n s ,

    b u t th e m e t h o d s w h i c h h e u s e d - - a n d e x p l a i n e d p e r h a p s

    t oo s u e c ~ n e t l y - -- a ~ e n o t w e l l k n o w n ~ n F ~ a n c e [ ] A t

    t h e s a m e t z m e , h o w e v e r , R ~ e m a n n s m e t h o d c o n t i n u e s t o

    h a v e m a n y a d h e r e n t s ~ n G e r m a n y , ~ t s e r v e s a s a ba s ~s

    f o r m a n y z m p o r ta n t p u b h c a t w n s b y f a m o u s g e om e t er s ,

    s u c h a s K o e m g s b e r g e r , C a r l N e w m a n n [ s~ c], K l e z n ,

    D e d e k z n d , W e b e r , P r y m , F u e h s , e t c T h e r e a d i n g o f t h e s e

    G r e a t B r it a in A F o r g o t t e n I n t e r e s t

    I n c o n t r a s t to w h a t i s k n o w n a b o u t t h e r e c e p h o n o f

    R m m a n n s t h e o r i e s m t h e t h r e e c o u n t r i e s a l r e a d y s u r v e y e d ,

    t h e i r r e c e p t i o n m G r e a t B n t m n i s h t t l e s tu d m d L e t m e

    t h e r e f o r e p r o v i d e a m o r e d e t m l e d a c c o u n t

    I n G r e at B n t m n R m m a n n s t h e o r i es s e e m t o h a v e b e -

    c o m e k n o w n a n d m o r e w i d e ly d i s s e m i n a t e d o n l y a f te r h is

    d e a t h O n e o f t h e fi r st B n t m h m a t h e m a t i c i a n s w h o c i t e d

    R m m a n n f r e q u e n t l y w a s A r t h u r C a y l e y , w h o , a l r e a d y m

    1 8 65 /6 6 , m e n t i o n e d t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s o f C l e b s c h a n d

    3Other scattered early ctta ons of R~emann s wnttngs are to be found tn Bertrand Darboux Elhot Emmanuel Herm~te Jonqu~eres Jordan Mane and Tannery For

    further informa n see [Neuenschwander 1996]

    VOLUME 2 NUMBER 3 1998 21

  • 8/11/2019 Documenting Riemann'SCOMPLEX

    4/8

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    e n ti f ic m t e r c h a n g e b e t w e e n S n u t h a n d

    G l m s h e r a n d t h e i r c o m m o n a d m ~ r at lo n f o r

    R m m a n n c a n b e g a t h e r e d f ro m G l m s h e r 's

    I n t r o d u c t i o n t o t u s e ( fi t lo n o f S n u t h ' s Collected

    Mathematical Papens a n d f r o m S m i t h ' s p a -

    p e r s t h e m s e l v e s 5 F r o m 1 87 7 o n w a r d s J W L

    G l m s h e r ' s f a th e r J a m e s w a s e n g a g e d m t h e

    p r o j e c t o f t h e c o n s t r u c t m n o f fa c t o r t a b l e s o f

    n u m b e r s f r o m 3 , 0 0 0 ,0 0 0 u p t o 6 , 0 00 , 00 0 , a n d

    h e o n c e a g a in d o c u m e n t e d t h e r e b y t h e g r e a t

    s u p e r i o r i ty o f R m m a n n ' s f o r m u l a f o r t h e n u m -

    b e r s o f p ri m e s a s c o m p a r e d w i t h t h o se o f

    L e g e n d r e a n d T c h e b y c h e f f J a m e s G l m s h e r 's

    t a b l e s w e r e c i t e d m t h e t r t tu ] l b y v a r i o u s m a t h -

    e m a t m t a n s m S c a n dm a v ~ a n c o u n t r i e s ( O p p e r -

    m a n n 1 88 2 f , G r a m 1 8 84 f f , L o r e n z 1 8 9 1) ,

    w h e r e R m m a n n ' s f u n c t m n - t h e o r et m a l w o r k

    h a d a l r e a d y e x c i t e d i n t e r e s t b e f o r e , a s i s

    s h o w n b y t h e p u b l i c a t i o n s o f B o n s d o rf f ,

    M l t t a g - L e ff l e r , a n d s o m e o t h e r s M o r e o v e r , m

    1 88 4 W W J o h n s o n p u b h s h e d a d e t a i l e d a c -

    c o u n t o f J a m e s G l a l s h e r ' s f a c t o r t a b l e s a n d

    t h e d l s t n b u t m n o f p r i m e s m t h e A m e r i c a n

    j o u r n a l Annals of Mathemahcs w h i c h m t r o -

    d u c e d R m m a n n ' s m v e s t i g a t m n s a n d t h e w o r k

    o f t h e B r i t is h m a t h e m a t l c t a n s m t h e N e w

    W o r l d

    F i n a l l y , a t t e n t i o n s h o u l d b e p r o d t o

    A n d r e w R u s s e l l F o r s y t h , w h o w e n t t o l i v e m

    t h e t o w n o f C a m b r i d g e a n d s t u d i e d n o t h i ng

    b u t m a t h e m a t m s m t h e s a m e y e a r , 1 87 6, t h a t

    S m i t h a n d G l m s h e r s t a r t e d t o d r a w a t t e n t m n

    t o R l e m a n n ' s w o r k I n h i s o b i t u a r y n o t i c e,

    E T W h i t t a k e r d e s c r i b e d F o r s y t h ' s Theory of

    Functwns ( 1 8 93 ) a s h a w n g h a d a g r e a t e r i n -

    f l u e n c e o n B r it i s h m a t h e m a t i c s t h a n a n y w o r k s i n c e

    N e w t o n ' s Pnnc~p a A c c o r d i n g t o W h i t t a k e r [ 19 42 , 21 8 ],

    p e r h a p s t h e m o s t o r i g i n a l fe a t u r e o f th ~s w o r k w a s t h e

    m e l d i n g o f t h e t h r e e m e t h o d s a s s o c m t e d w i t h t h e n a m e s

    o f C a u c h y , R m m a n n , a n d W e m r s t r a s s , w h i c h m t h e c o n t i-

    n e n t al b o o k s w e r e r e g a r d e d a s s e p a r a t e b r a n c h e s o f m a t h -

    e m a t l c s F u r t h e r m o r e , o n e c a n r e a d m t h e R o y a l S o c m t y

    B m g r a p h l c a l M e m o i r o f H e n r y F r e d e r i c k B a k e r b y W V D

    H o d g e t h at F o r s y t h r e n d e re d C a m b n d g e m a t h e m a t i c s

    g r e a t s e r v i c e b y h i s e f f o rt s to b n n g a b o u t c l o s e r c o - o p e r a -

    t i o n b e t w e e n m a t h e m a t ~ c i a n s m t h is c o u n t r y a n d t h o s e o n

    t h e c o n t i n e n t o f E u r o p e , a n d h e m a d e i t e a s m r f o r h~ s

    5In add i t i on t o Sm i t h s Lon don a ddres s d~ scussed a bove see a l so h~s pap er

    On the ~ntegrat~on of d~scont~nuous functions

    [1875) w=th a deta= led analys~s of R~emann s

    m e m o i r o n t h e r e p r e s e n t a ti o n o f a f u n c t io n b y a t n g o n o m e t n c s e n e s h ~s p a p e r On some discontinuous senes considere d by R~ernann 1881) and h~s M e m o i r o n t h e

    Theta and Omega unc tsons w h i c h w a s w n t t e n t o a c c o m p a n y t h e T a b l e s o f t h e T h e t a F u n c t io n s c a l c u l a t e d b y J W L G la ~ sh e r

    JOLUME 20 NUMBER 3 199 8 2 3

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    successors, mclu(hng Baker, to get the full benefit of the

    work of the great German masters of the late nmeteenth

    century

    As can be seen from W[uttaker's obituary notice and

    Forsyth's own recollections of his undergraduate days

    [Forsyth 1935], there is a defimte link betwee n For syt h's

    later work m complex analysis and [us early studies in

    Cambridge, where he came mto repeated contact w~th

    Glmsher, Cayley, and the works of Smith, who taught at

    Oxford Cayley and Glmsher were also to be very instru-

    mental in Forsyth's caree r in pure mathematic s and helped

    [urn to overco me that Cambridge atmos phere m which

    all were reared to graduation on a pphed m athemat ics ,,6

    Accorchng to Whittaker, it was Glmsher who suggested to

    Forsyth that he write his fLrst book, the

    T r e a t i s e o n d ~ f -

    f e r en t ~ a l e q u a t w n s

    (1885) His first two princ ipal memo irs

    on the ta functions (1881/1883) and on Abel's the orem and

    Abehan functions (1882/1884) were presented by Cayley,

    on the other hand, to the Royal Society In the first mem-

    oir Forsyth gives a list of 22 prmcipal papers in the field,

    mcluchng among others Rmmann's T h e o r t e d e r A b e l s c h e n

    F u n c t w n e n a s well as twelve other papers by the German

    mathe mati cian s Jacobi , Rlchelot, Rosenhmn, Gopel,

    Wemrstrass, Koemgsberger, Kummer, Borchardt, and

    Weber The second memoir on Abel's theorem and Abeha n

    functions contained a large section on Wemrstrass's ap-

    proach, which clearly shows tha t around 1882 Forsyth was

    already fully aware of the achievements of the German

    mathematicians in this field

    o n c l u s i o n

    These bibhograplucal mvestlgaUons make it evident that

    Rmmann's ideas were m ore posltavely acce pted m Great

    Britain, apparently even earher, than m France It seems the y

    were among the more important stimuh wluch, through the

    efforts of Cayley, Clifford, Slmth, Glmsher, etc, later led to

    the flounshmg of Enghsh pure mathematacs and function

    theory under Hobson, Forsyth, Mathews, Baker, Barnes,

    Hardy, IAttlewood, T~tchmarsh, and many othe rs In England

    and Italy Rmmann's theories entered open temtorie s, where

    they found mathematmal commumtms eager to catch up m

    pure math ematics In England this interest serve d to

    broad en to the Cambridge atmosphere, which was nearly

    totally oriented towards natural philosophy and apphed

    mathematics, m Italy it fitted m w~th a desire to built up a

    modern mathematical education for the newly founded na-

    tion (cf N euensc hwander 1986) In France, on the other

    hand, Riemann' s ideas first faced a cold receptaon from the

    well-esta bhshed tradition of Cauchy and Briot & Bouquet

    Allowing for a certmn p olitical ly motiv ated enthus iasm,

    Welerstrass was therefore proba bly right when, m a letter

    to Casorati dated 25 March 1867 (written m the early pe-

    riod before the publication of Rmmann's Collected

    Mathemat ical Works m 1876), he espec ially empha sized

    Italy's role m the dissemination of Rmmann's ideas In that

    letter (see [Neuen schwan der 1978, 72]) 7 he writes

    T h e h a p p y r ~ se o f s c w n c e ~n y o u r f a t h e r l a n d w a ll n o w h e r e

    e l se b e f o l l o w e d w z t h m o r e v z v z d z n t e r e s t t h a n h e r e z n

    N o r t h G e r m a n y a n d y o u m a y b e c e r t a i n t h a t t h e State

    o f I t a l y h a s n o w h e r e e l se s o m a n y s ~ n c e r e a n d d ~ s~ n te r -

    e s t e d f r i e n d s W z t h pl ec a~ u re w e a r e t h e r e f o r e r e a d y t o co n -

    t ~ n u e t h e a l l i a n c e b e t w e e n y o u a n d u s - - w h w h ~ n t h e p o -

    l ~ t w a l f i e l d h a s h a d s u c h g o o d r e s u l t s - - -a l s o ~ n s c w n c e s o

    t h a t a ls o ~n t h a t a~ e a th e b a r r i e r s m a y m o r e a n d m o r e b e

    o v e rc o m e w ~ t h w h w h u n h a p p y p o l i t i c s h a s f o r s o lo n g s e p-

    a r a t ed t w o g e n e r a l ly c o n g en i a l n a t w n s T h e p a pe ~ w h z c h

    y o u s e n t t o m e p r o v e s t o m e o n c e a g a i n t h a t o u r s c i e n t i f i c

    e n d e a v o u r s a r e b e t te r u n d e r s t o o d a n d a p p r e c z a t e d ~ n I t a l y

    t h a n ~ n F ~ a n c e a n d E n g l a n d p a r t z c u l a r l y ~ n t h e l a t t e r

    c o u n t r y w h e r e a n o v e r w h e l m i n g f o r m a h s m t h r e a te n s t o

    s t i f l e a n y f e e l z n g f o r d e e p e r ~ n ve s t~ g a t~ o n H o w s ~ g n ~ f i ca n t

    ~ t ~s t h a t o u r R w m a n n w h o s e lo s s w e c a n n o t s u f f i c i e n t l y

    d e p lo r e ~ s s t u d ~ e d a n d h o n o u r e d o u t s i d e G e r m a n y o n l y

    ~ n I t a l y ~ n F r a n c e h e ~s c e r t a i n l y a c k n o w l e d g e d e x t e r n a l l y

    b u t l~ t tl e u n d e r s t o o d a n d ~ n E n g l a n d [ a t l e a s t b e f o r e 1 8 6 7 ]

    h e h a s r e m a i n e d a l m o s t u n k n o w n

    N o t e a d d e d t n p r o o f

    In a recent issue of this journal

    (vol 19, no 4, Fall 1997) there app ear ed an article by

    Jeremy Gray w[uch gives the r eader a very welcome sum-

    mary m Enghsh of Riemaim's introduct ory lectures on gen-

    eral complex analysis Gray's pape r is largely based on my

    preprmt

    R ~ e m a n n s V o r le s u ng e n z u r F u n k t ~ o n e n th e o m e

    A l l g e m e ~ n e r T e ~ l

    Darmstadt 1987 and on Roch 1863/65

    (cf Neue nsch wand er 1996, p 15) but does not mentio n the

    substantially expande d version which app eared m Sprmg

    1996 and which has been reviewed m MR 97d 01041 and

    Zbl 844 01020 The publis hed version also contams, be-

    sides what was m the original prepnnt, the above-men-

    tioned extensive bibliography of papers and treatis es that

    were influenced by Rmmann's work, as well as a list of all

    known lecture notes of [us courses on complex analysis

    From this list [Ne uensc hwande r 1996, 81 ff ], one can in-

    fer that Cod Ms Rmmann 37 comp rise s notes of three dif-

    ferent courses (not just one, as suggeste d by Gray), and its

    first part is thereby quite easily datable to the Winter se-

    me st er 1855/56 On page 111 of Cod Ms Rmmann 37 one

    6Accordtng to Forsyth s own recol lecttons as ear ly as h~s s tude nt years he to ok an exceptional ~nterest tn pure mathematics and w ent for one term in hts th ird year to

    Cayle y s lectures whe re at the beginning the very wo rd plunge d him ~nto complete bewilderment From othe r passages of Forsyth s recol lections o ne may see that

    already at that t~me he made h~s f i rs t t imid ventures outs ide the range of Cambridge textbo oks and plo ugh ed throug h amo ng others a large part of Durege s

    lhpt~sche

    Funct~onen

    Further detai ls ma y be gathered from the fo l lowing personal confess ion by Forsyth Som ething of d~fferentta l equations be yon d mere examples the ele

    mer i ts of Jacobean elhpttc functtons and the mathem attcs o f Gauss s metho d of least squares I had learnt from Glatsher s lectures and b y worktng at the matter of

    the one course by Cayley whtch had be en attended I bega n to unde rstand that pure mathemattcs w as mo re than a col lectton of random to ols matnly fashioned for

    use ~n the Cam bndg e treatment of natural phtlosophy Otherwtse ve ry near ly the whole of such k now ledge of pure m athematics as ~s m~ne bega n to be acquired only

    a f te r my Tnpos degree In tha t Cambn dge a tmosphere we

    ll

    were reared to graduation on appl ied mathematics [Forsyth 1935 172]

    7Nottce that h~s charactertzatton of th e s~tuat~on ~n England ts s tr tk tngly s tm~lar to th at o f Smtth see note 4) o r Forsyth see note 6)

    2 4 THE MATHEMATICAL NTELLIGENCER

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    A U T H O I

    ERWIN NEUENSCHW NDER

    Instrtut fur Mathemattk

    Abt Re~ne Mathemabk

    Un~vers~tat Zunch-lrchel

    Wtnterthurerstrasss 190

    8057 Zunch Switzerland

    Erw~n Neuenschwander ts Professor of the History of

    Mathematics at the University of Zurich He took his degrees

    under B L van der Waerden ~n Zurich He has published sev-

    eral papers on ancient, medieval, and n~neteenth-century

    mathematics, an d especially on Rtemann, to wh om h~s latest

    boo k ~s devoted Dunng the pest cou ple of years, he has also

    take n an ~nterest ~n he h~story of the othe r exact so|en ces and

    on th e ~nteracttons between science, philosophy, and society

    The p~cture shows h~m before the tom b of Rtemann at Selesca

    near Verban~a, Italy) on the occes~on of t he Verban~a R~emann

    Memo nal Co nferen ce ~n July 1991

    reads Fortsetzung ;m Somme rsem este r 1856 [Continua-

    tion m the Summe r semeste r of 1856], and on page 193 of

    the same manuscript Theone der Functmnen complexer

    Groigen mlt besonderer Anwendung auf die Gauf~'sche

    Re;he

    F a,/3,

    % x) und verwandte Transcendenten Winter-

    semester 1856/57 Furthermore, ;t should be noted that

    Rmmann's lectures on general co mplex analys;s developed

    gradually from 1855 to 1861 [Neuenschwander 1996, 11 f ],

    and that m 1861 he also treated We|erstrass's fac tonzat mn

    theorem for enUre functions w;th prescribed zeros, intro-

    ducing to th;s end logarithms as convergence-producing

    terms [Neue nschwa nder 1996, 62-65], which ;s quite re-

    markable, although not mentioned by Gray 1997

    c k n o w l e d g m e n t s

    I am indebted to Ro bert B Burckel (Manhattan, Kansas),

    Ivor Grattan-Gumness (Enfield), and Samuel J Patter son

    (Gottmgen) for various suggestmns concernmg both con-

    tent and language The present art;cle was written under a

    grant from the Swiss National Foundation

    BIBLIOGR PHY

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    mat/che 7 1869), 224-234

    Bottazzin~, U Rtemanns E~nflu6 auf E Bett~ und F Casoratt Archive

    for History of Exact Sciences 18 1977/78), 27- 37

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    a We~erstrass Bonnghterl, Tonno 1981 Revised and enlarged English

    version Springer, New York 1986

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    du tome premier du Bullettn des Sciences mathemat~ques) Archives

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    Neue nschw ande r E Uber dte Wechselwtrku ngen zw~schen der franzo-

    sische n S chule, Rte mann u nd Wererstral3 E~ne Ubers tcht m~t zwe~

    Quellenstudten

    Archive for History of Exact Sciences

    24 (1981),

    22 1- 25 5 Enghsh version tn

    Bullet in of the Amencan Mathematical

    Society

    New Ser 5 (1981) 87- 105

    Neuen schwan der, E Der Aufsch wung d er ~tahenlschen Math ema tik zur

    Zest der pol~t~schen Etnigung Itallens und seine Ausw~rku ngen a uf

    Deutschland In Symposia Mathemat~ca 27 (1986), 213-237

    Neuen schwan der, E A bnef repor t on a numbe r of recently d~scov-

    ered sets of notes on R~emann's lectures and on the transmtsston of

    the R~emann Nachlass H~stona Mathemat~ca 15 (1988), 101-113

    Reprinted ~n R~emann 1990, 855-867

    Neue nschw ande r E Seco ndar y hteratu reon B R~emann In R~emann

    1990, 896-910

    Neuenschwander, E

    R/emanns E/nfuhrung ~n die Funkt/onentheone

    Etne quellenknt/sche Edit/on se/n er Vorlesunge n m /t e~ner B~bl~ograph~e

    zur W~rkungsgeschlchte der RJem annsch en Funkt~onentheone

    Abh and lun gen d er Akadem~e der W~ssenschaften ~n Gott~ngen,

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    43 4-4 47 Partially reprinted ~n R~emann 1990, 827 -84 4

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    Theses presen-

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    Proceedings of the London Mathem atical Society

    8 (1876-77), 6-29 =

    Collected Ma thematical Papers

    vol 2, 166-190

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    5 THE MATHEMATICAL NTELLIGENCER