Moritz Cantor

Moritz Benedikt Cantor (born the August 23rd 1829 with Mannheim - † the April 10th 1920 with Heidelberg), not to confuse with Georg Cantor, its compatriot and contemporary, was the first professor of Histoire of mathematics in Germany. He created or Co-published several German scientific magazines of the end of the 19th century.

Biography

Resulting from a family of Portuguese emigrants which had been established with the Netherlands, Moritz Cantor had a health so fragile that, not being able to follow courses to the school, his/her parents undertook to educate it with-same. It acquired however such a level that it was allowed in advance with the college of Mannheim with one year. It was then student with the Université of Heidelberg (1848) then to Göttingen, where it followed the courses of Gauss and Weber. In this same university, Moritz Stern (1807-1894) woke up at his place an interest for the historical research.

After its defense of thesis at the University of Heidelberg (1851), eager to attend the conferences of Lejeune-Dirichlet, it left for Berlin, where it followed also the courses of Jakob Steiner; from return to Heidelberg (1853), it obtained the approval of privatdocent of the university of this city with a report of enabling on the “Principles of arithmetic elementary” (“ Grundzüge einer Elementar-Arithmetik ”). He married Telly Gerothwohl on August 23rd, 1868. Since 1860 he taught the history of mathematics, and to leave 1875 its course was spread out over three six-month periods.

Promoted temporary professor in 1863, he became professor emeritus in 1877.

Posterity

Cantor was one of the founders of the “ Kritische Zeitschrift für Chemie, Physik, und Mathematik ”. In 1859, it joined Schlömilch as editor of the “Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik”, taking care of the historical headings and arts persons of this famous newspaper. Its zeal for the history of sciences was such as in 1877, the editor accepted the publication of a supplement to the Zeitschrift under the title of “ Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der Mathematik ” (“ Contributions to the history of mathematics ”).

The subject of thesis of Cantor, “ On an unusual frame of reference ” (“ Über ein Weniger Gebräuchliches Coordinaten-System ”, 1851), hardly let predict that the history of sciences would be to him one day indebted of true chiefs of work. Its first significant study in the discipline was an article on the introduction of the figures in Europe (“Über die Einführung Unserer Gegenwärtigen Ziffern in Europa”), published in the " Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik" (1856, vol. I). Its fundamental work, the “ Lessons on the history of mathematics ” (“ Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik ”) in three volumes (1880 - 1898), covers the history of mathematics starting from 1758, i.e. the beginnings of Lagrange. A fourth volume, posthumous, was actually written starting from the notes of Cantor by Gino Loria, Kommerell, Florian Cajori, Eugen Netto, Vivanti etc This sum comprises a certain error count, partly corrected in annals of the DMV of 1922 (F.Rudio). No doubt Cantor had predecessors in the history of mathematics as of the XVIIIe century, to begin with Lagrange itself, or especially Montucla (“History of Mathematics”, 1st ED. 1758, rééd. 1799) but, in spite of some inaccuracies of variable gravity, several historians regard it as the true founder of a discipline which, before him, missed method, critical spirit and coherence suitable for the historical step.

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