Felix Bernstein (mathematician)

Felix Bernstein (24 February 1878 in Halle, Germany – 3 December 1956 in Zürich, Switzerland), was a German Jewish mathematician known for proving in 1896 the Schröder–Bernstein theorem, a central result in set theory,[1]:5–6[2][3][note 1] and less well known for demonstrating in 1924 the correct blood group inheritance pattern of multiple alleles at one locus through statistical analysis.

Felix Bernstein
Born(1878-02-24)24 February 1878
Halle
Died3 December 1956(1956-12-03) (aged 78)
Zurich
Alma materUniversity of Göttingen
Known forSchröder–Bernstein theorem
ChildrenMarianne Bernstein-Wiener[1]:7r
Scientific career
Theses
Doctoral advisorDavid Hilbert

Life

Felix Bernstein was born in 1878 to a Jewish family of academics.[4] His father Julius held the Chair of Physiology at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, and was the Director of the Physiological Institute at the University of Halle.

While still in gymnasium in Halle, Bernstein heard the university seminar of Georg Cantor, who was a friend of Bernstein's father.[1]:5r From 1896 to 1900, Bernstein studied in Munich, Halle, Berlin and Göttingen.[5]:166 In the early Weimar Republic, Bernstein temporarily was Göttingen vice-chairman of the German Democratic Party.[6]:7[7]:118[8] In 1933,[note 2] after Hitler's rise to power, Bernstein was deprived from his chair, per §6 of the Nazi Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, often used against politically unpopular persons. He received the message of his dismissal during a research/lecturing journey (started on Dec. 1st, 1932) to the United States, and he stayed there.[5]:166[6]:7–8[8] In 1948, Bernstein retired from teaching in the USA, and returned to Europe.[2] He mainly lived in Rome and Freiburg, occasionally visiting Göttingen,[5]:166 where he became professor emeritus.[2] He died of cancer in Zurich on 3 December 1956.[1]:6r[2]

Publications

Notes
  1. In 1897 (aged 19), according to Oliver Deiser (2010). "Zeittafel zur frühen Mengenlehre" (PDF). Einführung in die Mengenlehre — Die Mengenlehre Georg Cantors und ihre Axiomatisierung durch Ernst Zermelo (3rd ed.). Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-20401-5.
  2. In 1934, according to O'Connor, Robertson (MacTutor).

References
  1. Crow, J. F. (1993). "Felix Bernstein and the first human marker locus". Genetics. 133 (1): 4–7. PMC 1205297. PMID 8417988.
  2. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Felix Bernstein (mathematician)", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.
  3. Nathan, Henry (1970–1980). "Bernstein, Felix". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
  4. "Felix Bernstein". International Statistical Review (2005), 73: 1. 3-7.
  5. Max Pinl (1970). "Kollegen in einer dunklen Zeit (2)" (PDF). Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung. 72: 165–189.
  6. Norbert Schappacher (1987). "Das Mathematische Institut der Universität Göttingen 1929—1950" (PDF). In Becker; Dahms; Wegeler (eds.). Die Universität Göttingen unter dem Nationalsozialismus. München: K.G.Saur. pp. 345–373. — Schappacher gives a lot of details from the Göttingen University archive.
  7. Barbara Marshall (1972). The Political Development of German University Towns in the Weimar Republic: Göttingen and Münster 1918—1930 (Ph.D. thesis). Univ. of London.
  8. Steffi Laemmle; Willy Tiabou; Christoph Bichlmeier (May 2003). "Verfolgte Mathematiker (Persecuted Mathematicians)". Seminar für überfachliche Grundlagen: Mathematiker in der NS-Zeit (Term Paper). TU Munich.


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