R. Courant

Richard Courant (January 8, 1888 - January 27, 1972) was a German-American mathematician. It was co-written with Herbert Robbins. Courant was born in Lublinice, in the Prussian province of Silesia. His parents were Sigmund Courant and Martha Courant, nee Freund of Oil. Edith Stein was Richard's paternal cousin. His parents often moved, in the same year to Breslau and in 1905 to Berlin. He continued his studies at the University of Zurich and the University of Gottingen. He became David Hilbert's assistant in Gottingen and received his doctorate there in 1910. He was to serve in the First World War. Courant left the University of Münster in 1921 to take the post of Erich Hecke at the University of Gottingen. There he founded the Mathematical Institute from 1928 to 1933. Courant left Germany in 1933, earlier than many fugitive Jews. He did not lose his position. however, his public membership of the Social Democratic Left was a sufficient load (for the Nazis) to dismiss. In 1936, after one year of study at Cambridge, Courant became a professor at New York University in New York. There he founded the Institute of Graduate Studies in Applied Mathematics. Institute of Mathematical Sciences Courant (as it was renamed in 1964) is currently one of the most respected research centers of applied mathematics. Courant and David Hilbert are the author of an influential textbook on mathematics and physics, which was published in 1924. Together with Gerber Robins, he co-authored a popular review of higher mathematics intended for the general public. Together with Fritz John, he also co-authored a two-volume work, Introduction to Calculus and Analysis, first published in 1965. A method for calculating numerical solutions in partial derivatives is also given. Courant is the namesake of the Courant - Friedrichs - Levy condition and the Courant minimax principle. In New Rochelle, NY, January 27, 1972.