Bernhard Riemann

17 September 1826 – 20 July 1866

Bernhard Riemann (1826-1866) was a German mathematician whose work in analysis, number theory, and differential geometry reshaped mathematics. His 1854 habilitation lecture founded Riemannian geometry, later essential to general relativity, and his 1859 paper on the distribution of prime numbers posed the still-unsolved Riemann hypothesis.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Bernhard Riemann.

Life events

Born in Breselenz, Kingdom of Hanover
17 September 1826

Riemann was born the son of a Lutheran pastor in the village of Breselenz.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Enrolled at the University of Gottingen
1846

He began studying theology at his father's wish but soon switched to mathematics, attending lectures by Gauss.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Studied at the University of Berlin
1847 – 1849

Riemann spent two years in Berlin, learning from Jacobi, Dirichlet, Steiner, and Eisenstein.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Completed doctoral thesis on the theory of complex functions
1851

His dissertation, supervised by Gauss, introduced Riemann surfaces and laid foundations of complex analysis.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Delivered habilitation lecture founding Riemannian geometry
10 June 1854

His lecture 'On the Hypotheses which lie at the Bases of Geometry' introduced the concept of curved n-dimensional spaces.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Appointed full professor at Gottingen
1859

Riemann succeeded Dirichlet as head of the mathematics department at Gottingen and was elected to the Berlin Academy of Sciences the same year.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published paper on prime numbers stating the Riemann hypothesis
November 1859

In 'On the Number of Primes Less Than a Given Magnitude' he connected the zeta function to prime distribution and posed his famous conjecture.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Traveled to Italy seeking relief from tuberculosis
1862 – 1866

Suffering from tuberculosis, Riemann made several extended stays in Italy in his final years.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Elise Koch
3 June 1862

Riemann married Elise Koch, a friend of his sister; the couple had a daughter, Ida.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died at Selasca on Lake Maggiore, Italy
20 July 1866

Riemann died of tuberculosis at the age of 39 during his third journey to Italy.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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