Boris Yakovlevich Bukreev (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Борис Яковлевич Букреев; 6 September 1859 – 2 October 1962) was a Russian and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 ...

who worked in the areas of

complex function Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic g ...

s and differential equations. He studied Fuchsian functions of rank zero. He was interested in projective and

non-Euclidean geometry In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry consists of two geometries based on axioms closely related to those that specify Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean ge ...

. He worked on

differential invariant In mathematics, a differential invariant is an invariant for the action of a Lie group on a space that involves the derivatives of graphs of functions in the space. Differential invariants are fundamental in projective differential geometry, and th ...

s and parameters in the theory of surfaces, and also wrote many papers on the history of mathematics.

Biography

Boris Bukreev was born in

Lgov Lgov () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Lgov, Kursk Oblast, a town in Kursk Oblast ;Rural localities * Lgov, Khotynetsky District, Oryol Oblast, a '' selo'' in Ilyinsky Selsoviet of Khotynetsky Distric ...

Kursk Governorate Kursk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1796 to 1928 with its capital in Kursk. Administrative divisions As of 1914, Kursk Governorate included 15 uyezds. * Belgorods ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in the family of a schoolteacher. His grandfather was also a school teacher. His early education was at home and later he attended a classical Gymnasium at Kursk. In 1878, Bukreev entered St. Vladimir University that at the time was called the University of Saint Vladimir in Kyiv. The university was founded in 1834 and had a very strong school of mathematics. In 1880, Bukreev was awarded a gold medal by the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics as the best student. In 1882, he got his first degree and remained at the university to continue his training. At that time he worked on

Karl Weierstrass Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass (; ; 31 October 1815 – 19 February 1897) was a German mathematician often cited as the " father of modern analysis". Despite leaving university without a degree, he studied mathematics and trained as a school t ...

's theory of

elliptic function In the mathematical field of complex analysis, elliptic functions are special kinds of meromorphic functions, that satisfy two periodicity conditions. They are named elliptic functions because they come from elliptic integrals. Those integrals are ...

s. This became a topic of his Master's thesis titled "On the expansion of

transcendental function In mathematics, a transcendental function is an analytic function that does not satisfy a polynomial equation whose coefficients are functions of the independent variable that can be written using only the basic operations of addition, subtraction ...

in partial fractions. After publishing his thesis Bukreev went abroad and took lectures of

Lazarus Fuchs Lazarus Immanuel Fuchs (5 May 1833 – 26 April 1902) was a Jewish-German mathematician who contributed important research in the field of linear differential equations. He was born in Mosina, Moschin in the Grand Duchy of Posen (modern-day M ...

, and

Leopold Kronecker Leopold Kronecker (; 7 December 1823 – 29 December 1891) was a German mathematician who worked on number theory, abstract algebra and logic, and criticized Georg Cantor's work on set theory. Heinrich Weber quoted Kronecker as having said, ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Bukreev undertook research on Fuchsian functions under Fuchs' guidance, which he completed in 1888 and which became the basis of his doctoral thesis "On the Fuchsian functions of rank zero" defended in 1889. In 1889, Bukreev became a professor of

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

at the St. Vladimir University of Kyiv,

(now Kyiv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). During the 1890s, Bukreev published a series of high quality papers including: "On the theory of gamma functions," "On some formulas in the theory of elliptic functions of Weierstrass," "On the distribution of the roots of a class of entire transcendental functions," and "Theorems for elliptic functions of Weierstrass". By the end of the 1890s, Bukreev began to undertake research into

differential geometry Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of Calculus, single variable calculus, vector calculus, lin ...

. In 1900, he published "A Course on Applications of Differential and Integral Calculus to Geometry". Although at this time his main position was in the

University of Kyiv The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

, he also taught at the Women's College from 1896 and at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander II from 1898. He continued to teach at the Polytechnic Institute until 1926. He continued working at the

University of Kiev The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

until 1959 and retired at the age of 100. He received a number of scientific and state honors during his life, including the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

and the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

. Bukreev published a number of books which proved influential. For example, "Introduction to the theory of series," "Elements of the theory of determinants," "Course on definite integrals" (1903), and "Elements of algebraic analysis" (1912). In 1934, he published "An Introduction to the Calculus of Variations." His most important book on

was "Non-Euclidean Planimetry in Analytic Terms", which he published in 1951. Bukreev continued actively working in

up to the very end of his life; his last paper was published when he was 98.

Family life

Bukreev married a daughter of Aleksei Aleksandrovich Kozlov (Russian philosopher, a notable representative of Russian school of

panpsychism In philosophy of mind, panpsychism () is the view that the mind or a mind-like aspect is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality. It is also described as a theory that "the mind is a fundamental feature of the world which exists throug ...

, and professor of philosophy at Kyiv University from 1884). They had three children, Tatiana, Nikolai and Yevgeny. His grandson,

Kirill Tolpygo Kirill Borisovich Tolpygo (; ; 3 May 1916 – 13 May 1994) was a Soviet physicist and a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He was recognized for his works on condensed matter theory; the theory of phonon spectra in ...

(son of Tatiana and Boris Nikolaevich Tolpygo), became a prominent Ukrainian physicist,

corresponding member The corresponding member is one of the possible membership types in some organizations, especially in the learned societies and scientific academies. This title existed or exist in the Soviet Union, GDR, Polish People's Republic, Czechoslovak S ...

of the

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...

Books

* ''A Course on Applications of Differential and Integral Calculus to Geometry'' * ''An Introduction to the Calculus of Variations'' * ''Non-Euclidean Planimetry in Analytic Terms''

External links

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bukreev, Boris 1859 births 1962 deaths Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Academic staff of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian men centenarians Mathematicians from the Russian Empire Soviet mathematicians Burials at Baikove Cemetery