Stephen H. Schanuel (14 July 1933 – 21 July 2014) was an American
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
working in the fields of
abstract algebra
In mathematics, more specifically algebra, abstract algebra or modern algebra is the study of algebraic structures. Algebraic structures include group (mathematics), groups, ring (mathematics), rings, field (mathematics), fields, module (mathe ...
and
category theory,
number theory
Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mat ...
, and
measure theory.
Life
While he was a graduate student at
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, he discovered
Schanuel's lemma, an essential lemma in
homological algebra.
Schanuel received his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in
mathematics from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1963, under the supervision of
Serge Lang.
Work
Shortly thereafter he stated a
conjecture in the field of
transcendental number theory
Transcendental number theory is a branch of number theory that investigates transcendental numbers (numbers that are not solutions of any polynomial equation with rational coefficients), in both qualitative and quantitative ways.
Transcendence
...
, which remains an important open problem to this day.
Schanuel was a professor emeritus of mathematics at
University at Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...
.
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Books
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schanuel, Stephen
1933 births
2014 deaths
20th-century American mathematicians
21st-century American mathematicians
Columbia University alumni
University at Buffalo faculty
People from St. Louis
Mathematicians from Missouri
Algebraists