ICM'98
Weierstrassian mathematical analysis and Cantorian
set theory in Britain and the USA, 1890-1910
By Ivor Grattan-Guinness
Two rather different stories of German influence upon Anglo-Saxon
culture are told here. The USA was late in emergence as a research
country in mathematics; but when advances were made, from the 1880s,
analysis and set theory were prominent. E.H. Moore took a considerable
interest and diffused it (especially set theory) from Chicago. Several
American mathematicians took their doctorates at Berlin, and the
influence upon W.F. Osgood went deeper, to important monographs. The
Open Court Publishers Company included mathematical works by Cantor
and Dedekind in its programme of translations of German texts.
Britain, especially England, was largely dominated by algebras; but
A.R. Forsyth and E.W. Hobson drew upon Weierstrass for their work in
analysis, especially for real variables. Set theory came through
Bertrand Russell in the early 1900s; but the definitive change,
especially for point-set topology was effected soon afterwards by
G.H. Hardy, particularly when boosted by J.E. Littlewood from around
1910.
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Last modified: June 19, 1998