Abstract
This chapter describes a fascinating University of Zurich process of hiring a professor. It also discusses the psychology of the Van der Waerden family and reasons for their leaving Holland forever to settle in Switzerland.
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Notes
- 1.
Karl Rudolf Fueter (June 30, 1880–August 9, 1950), a professor of mathematics (1916–1950) and Rektor (1920–1922) of the University of Zurich.
- 2.
Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 3.
Ibid.
- 4.
The apparent date of birth in parentheses should have been (87), for 1887. George Pólya (1887–1985), a professor of mathematics at ETH (1920–1940) and Stanford University (1942–1978, including active Emeritus Professor since 1953), a brilliant mathematician and pedagogue.
- 5.
Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
Heinz Hopf, a 5-page long letter to Hans Boesch of May 14, 1950; typed and hand-signed in German; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 8.
Lars V. Ahlfors’s letter to Hans Boesch of May 21, 1950; typed and hand-signed in German; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 9.
Rudolf Fueter’s letter to Hans Boesch of June 1, 1950; typed and hand-signed in German; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 10.
Andreas Speiser’s letter to Hans Boesch of May 10, 1950; typed and hand-signed; in German; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 11.
Jan Schouten’s letter to Hans Boesch of May 12, 1950; hand-written in German with an additional typed copy; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 12.
Typed in German; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
Text in parentheses about PĂłlya is added in pencil, as if an afterthought.
- 15.
Time proved Dekan Boesch to be wrong: George PĂłlya would live to the age of 98, and give inspiring lectures at Stanford University and elsewhere at a very advanced age.
- 16.
Hand-written letter in German; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 17.
Typed letter in German; Universität Zürich, Universitätsarchiv, Lehrstuhlakten Mathematik.
- 18.
Mrs. Van der Waerden learned and spoke Dutch, but apparently with a German accent.
- 19.
Children, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy their life in Laren. Their first cousin Theo van der Waerden recalls [WaT2]: “In 1949 we moved to Amsterdam … We met the family more and more, we went to Laren, where Bart and his family lived (1945–1951). I had the impression that they loved the house, the children were happy there with the schools, the nature, etc.”
References
Bruijn, N. G. de, e-mail to A. Soifer, June 1, 2004.
Bruijn, N. G. de, e-mail to A. Soifer, June 15, 2004.
Duparc, H.J.A., Handwritten recollection notes written for A. Soifer, Delft, September, 1996.
Eckmann, B., e-mail to A. Soifer of December 23, 2004.
Eckmann, B., e-mail to A. Soifer of December 27, 2004.
Waerden, Dorith van der, e-mail to A. Soifer, February 15, 2004.
Waerden, Hans van der, letter to A. Soifer, June 20, 2004.
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Soifer, A. (2015). Escape to Neutrality. In: The Scholar and the State: In Search of Van der Waerden. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0712-8_36
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