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Hermann Minkowski

Hermann Minkowski

1864 CE1909 CE · Kaunas (Kovno)

Hermann Minkowski (22 June 1864 – 12 January 1909) was a mathematician and professor at the University of Königsberg, ETH Zürich, and the University of Göttingen, described variously as German, Polish, Lithuanian-German, or Russian. He created and developed the geometry of numbers and elements of convex geometry, and used geometrical methods to solve problems in number theory, mathematical physics, and the theory of relativity. Minkowski is perhaps best known for his foundational work describing space and time as a four-dimensional space, now known as "Minkowski spacetime", which facilitated geometric interpretations of Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity (1905).

Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Kaunas (Kovno)קובנהLithuania

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About Kaunas (Kovno)

Kaunas (Yiddish Kovno), the second city of Lithuania, was a major center of Jewish religious and cultural life. Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor served as its chief rabbi from 1864 until his death in 1896, becoming one of the foremost halachic authorities of his era; the Kovno Kollel was named for him, and its suburb of Slobodka housed the famous Knesses Yisrael Mussar yeshiva. Kaunas was also the birthplace of the Talmud scholar Louis Ginzberg.

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Related figuresDavid HilbertSuggested by shared subject matter, not a documented teaching relationship.