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Biography of Niels Henrik AbelName: Niels Henrik AbelBirth Date: August 5, 1802 Death Date: April 6, 1829 Place of Birth: Finnöy, Norway Nationality: Norwegian Gender: Male Occupations: Mathematician Niels Henrik Abel Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829) was a Norwegian mathematician who proved that fifth and higher order equations have no algebraic solution. Had he not died prematurely, it is speculated that he might have become one of the most prominent mathematicians of the 19th century. He provided the first general proof of the binomial theorem and made significant discoveries concerning elliptic functionsAbel was born in Finnöy, on the southwestern coast of Norway, on August 5, 1802. He was the second son of Sören Georg Abel, a Lutheran minister, and Anne Marie nee Sorensen, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Abel's father was appointed to a new parish in 1804, and the family moved to the town of Gjerstad, in southern Norway. Abel received his early education from his father. In 1815, he was sent to the Cathedral School in Oslo, where he soon developed a passion for mathematics. In 1818, a new instructor, Berndt …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…take up a university post, but could only find work as a tutor. At this time, he discovered that he had contracted tuberculosis. Later in 1827, he wrote a lengthy paper on elliptic functions for Crelle's journal and began working for Crelle as an editor.Abel died on April 6, 1829, while visiting his Danish fiancée, Christine Kemp, who was living in Froland. A few days later, unaware of Abel's death, Crelle wrote to say he had secured a position for him at the University of Berlin. Abel was honored posthumously, in 1830, when the French Académie awarded him the Grand Prix, a prize he shared with Karl Jacobi. Further Reading Bell, E.T., Men of Mathematics, Simon and Schuster, 1986.Ore, Oystein, Niels Henrik Abel: Mathematician Extraordinary, University of Minnesota Press, 1957."Niels Henrik Abel," MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematics/abel.html (March 1997). |