Niels Henrik Abel
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Niels Henrik Abel, 1802-1829. Norwegian mathematician who accomplished an amazing amount of brilliant work in his short lifetime. In 1824 Abel proved the impossibility of solving algebraically the general equation of the fifth degree.
Waymark Code: WM13KH
Location: Oslo, Norway
Date Posted: 01/04/2007
Views: 104
A statue of a sitting Abel, outside the building for
Mathematics at the University of Oslo, Norway.
The building is named after Abel.
The early death of this talented mathematician, cut short a career of extraordinary brilliance and promise. Under Abel's guidance, the prevailing obscurities of analysis began to be cleared, new fields were entered upon and the study of functions so advanced as to provide mathematicians with numerous ramifications along which progress could be made.[1]
At the age of 16, Abel gave a proof of the binomial theorem Eric Weisstein's World of Math valid for all numbers, extending Euler's result which had only held for rationals. Eric Weisstein's World of Math At age 19, he showed there is no general algebraic solution for the roots Eric Weisstein's World of Math of a quintic equation, Eric Weisstein's World of Math or any general polynomial Eric Weisstein's World of Math equation of degree greater than four, in terms of explicit algebraic operations. To do this, he invented (independently of Galois) an extremely important branch of mathematics known as group theory, Eric Weisstein's World of Math which is invaluable not only in many areas of mathematics, but for much of physics as well. Among his other accomplishments, Abel wrote a monumental work on elliptic functions Eric Weisstein's World of Math which, however, was not discovered until after his death. When asked how he developed his mathematical abilities so rapidly, he replied "by studying the masters, not their pupils."[2]
Abel, born on Finnøy in Rogaland, Norway studied
in his early years in Oslo. Later he travelled to
Copenhage, Berlin and Paris to study and publish.
While living on smal scolarships, short term
employments and gifts Abel died of tuberkulosis
in Froland, Norway april 1829. Two days later
a letter arrived announcing a professorship
for him in Berlin.
A crater on the moon has ben named after Abel, and
the equivalent of Nobel prize for mathematics is named
after him.
1: From Wikipedia
2: From Wolfram Research