
Albrecht Beutelspacher (born 5 June 1950) is a German
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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
and founder of the
Mathematikum. He is a professor emeritus at the
University of Giessen
University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...
, where he held the chair for
geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
and
discrete mathematics
Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that can be considered "discrete" (in a way analogous to discrete variables, having a bijection with the set of natural numbers) rather than "continuous" (analogously to continuous f ...
from 1988 to 2018.
Biography
Beutelspacher studied from 1969 to 1973 math, physics and philosophy at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
and received his PhD 1976 from the
University of Mainz
The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...
. His PhD advisor was
Judita Cofman. From 1982 to 1985 he was an associate professor at the University of Mainz and from 1985 to 1988 he worked at a research department of
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
. From 1988 to 2018 he was a tenured professor for geometry and discrete mathematics at the
University of Giessen
University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...
. He became a well-known popularizer of mathematics in Germany by authoring several books in the field of popular science and recreational math and by founding Germany's first math museum, the
Mathematikum. He received several awards for his contributions to popularizing mathematics. He had a math column in the German popular science magazine
Bild der Wissenschaft and moderated a popular math series for the TV Channel BR-
(educational TV).
Awards
* 2004:
IQ Award
* 2008:
Hessian Cultural Prize
* 2016
Hessian Order of Merit
Books
regular
* ''Einführung in die endliche Geometrie.'' Band 1: ''Blockpläne.'' Bibliographisches Institut Wissenschaftsverlag, Mannheim u. a. 1982, ISBN 3-411-01632-9.
* ''Einführung in die endliche Geometrie.'' Band 2: ''Projektive Räume.'' Bibliographisches Institut Wissenschaftsverlag, Mannheim u. a. 1983, ISBN 3-411-01648-5.
*''Cryptology''. Spectrum
*with
Lynn Batten: ''The Theory of finite linear Spaces''. Cambridge University Press, 1993
*with Uta Rosenbaum: ''Projective Geometry: From Foundations to Applications''. Cambridge University Press
* ''„Das ist o.B.d.A. trivial!“ Eine Gebrauchsanleitung zur Formulierung mathematischer Gedanken mit vielen praktischen Tips für Studenten der Mathematik und Informatik.'' Vieweg, Braunschweig u. a. 1991, ISBN 3-528-06442-0 (9th edition, Vieweg + Teubner, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-8348-0771-7).
*''Lineare Algebra. Eine Einführung in die Wissenschaft der Vektoren, Abbildungen und Matrizen''. 8th edition, Springer Spektrum, Wiesbaden 2014, ISBN 978-3-658-02412-3, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-02413-0.
* with Bernhard Petri: ''Der goldene Schnitt''. 2. Auflage. Spektrum, Heidelberg, Berlin, Oxford 1996,
* mit Jörg Schwenk und Klaus-Dieter Wolfenstetter: ''Moderne Verfahren der Kryptographie. Von RSA zu Zero-Knowledge.'' Vieweg, Braunschweig u. a. 1995, (7., überarbeitete Auflage. Vieweg + Teubner, Wiesbaden 2010, ).
* with Marc-Alexander Zschiegner: ''Diskrete Mathematik für Einsteiger. Mit Anwendungen in Technik und Informatik.'' Vieweg, Braunschweig u. a. 2002, (4., aktualisierte Auflage. Vieweg + Teubner, Wiesbaden 2011, ).
* with Heike B. Neumann und Thomas Schwarzpaul: ''Kryptographie in Theorie und Praxis. Mathematische Grundlagen für elektronisches Geld, Internetsicherheit und Mobilfunk.'' Vieweg + Teubner, Braunschweig und Wiesbaden 2005, .
* ''Survival-Kit Mathematik. Mathe-Basics zum Studienbeginn.'' Vieweg + Teubner, Wiesbaden 2010, .
popular science
*''Pasta all´infinito. Meine italienische Reise in die Mathematik''. 2. Auflage. C.H. Beck, München 2000,
*''Luftschlösser und Hirngespinste''. Vieweg, Braunschweig und Wiesbaden 1986
*''Geheimsprachen. Geschichte und Techniken''. 3. Auflage. C.H. Beck, München 2002,
*''In Mathe war ich immer schlecht''. 3. Auflage. Vieweg, Braunschweig und Wiesbaden 2001,
*''Christian und die Zahlenkünstler. Eine Reise in die wundersame Welt der Mathematik.'' C.H. Beck, München 2005,
*''Albrecht Beutelspachers Kleines Mathematikum. Die 101 wichtigsten Fragen und Antworten zur Mathematik'', C.H. Beck, Munich 2010,
* with Marcus Wagner: ''Warum Kühe gern im Halbkreis grasen. ... und andere mathematische Knobeleien.'' Herder, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2010, .
* ''Zahlen. Geschichte, Gesetze, Geheimnisse.'' C.H.Beck, München 2013,
* ''Wie man in eine Seifenblase schlüpft.'' C.H.Beck, München 2015, .
* with Marcus Wagner: ''Wie man einen Würfel aufpustet''. Herder, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2019, ISBN 978-3-451-60068-5
* ''Null, unendlich und die wilde 13. Die wichtigsten Zahlen und ihre Geschichte''. C.H.Beck, München 2020, ISBN 978-3-406-74967-4
References
Benedictus-Gotthelf-Teubner-Förderpreis*Barbara Czernek
''Letzte Vorlesung von Albrecht Beutelspacher an JLU Gießen'' Gießener Anzeiger, Juli 2018 (German)
*Sabine Glinke
''Denker & Lenker (Teil 1): Albrecht Beutelspacher (Mathematikum)'' Gießen Entdecken (Stadtmagazin), 29 February 2016 (German)
External links
at the Mathematkum
1950 births
University of Tübingen alumni
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni
Academic staff of the University of Giessen
Living people
20th-century German mathematicians
Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
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