Synopses & Reviews
Hermann Günther Graßmann was one of the 19th century's most remarkable scientists, but many aspects of his life have remained in the dark. This book assembles essential, first-hand information on the Graßmann family. It sheds light on the family's struggle for scientific knowledge, progress and education. It puts a face on the protagonists of an exciting development in the history of science. And it highlights the peculiar set of influences which led Hermann Graßmann to brilliant insights in mathematics, philology and physics. This book of sources is meant to complement the biography of Graßmann and the proceedings of the 2009 Graßmann Bicentennial Conference (Birkhäuser 2010). "Roots and Traces" will interest all scholars working on Hermann Graßmann and related topics. It offers newly discovered pictures of family members, historical texts documenting life in this exceptional family and an English translation of these previously unpublished papers. Text in German and English.
Synopsis
Original documents on the life of Hermann GraAmann are rare. The manuscripts he left are missing. Nevertheless the situation is not hopeless. Parts of the literary remains of the GraAmann family could be tracked down in Szczecin.
Unknown letters have been found in German archives. Pictures of Hermann GraAmann and his father and brother, not seen before, can be shown here for the first time.
The documentation (presented in German and English), which is needed for an appropriate appreciation on the 200th anniversary of this great scholar, gives deep insights into his struggle for self-discovery, and allows the relationship to his very different brother to emerge vividly. Together with the biography, and the interdisciplinary volume, this volume is essential for everyone who want to get to know this great scholar better and to plumb the depths of GraAmann's output.
Synopsis
Comprising unpublished material including photographs and letters that were believed lost forever, this book gives deep insights into the great scholar's struggle for self-discovery, and allows the relationship to his very different brother to emerge vividly.
Table of Contents
From the contents: Introduction.- Justus Günther Graßmann, the father.- Friedrich Heinrich Gotthilf Graßmann, the uncle and stepfather of Robert Graßmann.- Robert Graßmann, the brother.- Hermann Günther Graßmann.- Hermann Graßmann the Younger, the son.- Three remarkable students of Hermann Graßmann: the Indologist Richard von Garbe, the philosopher Paul Carus, the musicologist Gustav Jacobsthal.- Notes.- Name index