Edith Hirsch Luchins (21 December 1921 in

Brzeziny Brzeziny (; , ''Brezin'') is a town in Poland, in Łódź Voivodeship, about east of Łódź. It is the capital of Brzeziny County and has a population of 12,326 as of December 2021. It is situated on the Mrożyca River within the historic Łęcz ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

– 18 November 2002 in

Suffern, New York Suffern is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village that was incorporated in 1796 in the town of Ramapo, New York, Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. Located adjacent to the town of Mahwah, New Jersey, Suffern is located 31 miles ...

) was a Polish-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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. Her work focused on applying mathematical principles to problems in the philosophy of science and psychology, most notably in the field of

Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twent ...

. The Luchins and Luchins' Water Jar Experiment is named after her and psychologist Abraham S. Luchins.

Early life and education

Edith Hirsch was born in 1921 in

. She emigrated to the United States at age six, settling with her family in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In high school Hirsch excelled at mathematics, tutoring other students and assisting teachers with grading. She earned her B.A from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

in 1942 and her M.A. from

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

in 1944. She obtained her Ph.D. from

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in 1957 with her dissertation "''On Some Properties of Certain Banach Algebras."''

Career

From 1942 to 1943, Luchins worked for the government as an inspector of anti-aircraft equipment at

Sperry Gyroscope Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County * Sperry, Missouri * Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County * Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana * Sperry Glac ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Luchins began her doctoral studies at NYU under

Kurt Friedrichs Kurt Otto Friedrichs (September 28, 1901 – December 31, 1982) was a German-American mathematician. He was the co-founder of the Courant Institute at New York University, and a recipient of the National Medal of Science. Biography Friedrichs wa ...

and

Richard Courant Richard Courant (January 8, 1888 – January 27, 1972) was a German-American mathematician. He is best known by the general public for the book '' What is Mathematics?'', co-written with Herbert Robbins. His research focused on the areas of real ...

as she began her teaching career at

. She put her formal studies on hold for several years for personal reasons; however, she continued to conduct research and publish papers in educational mathematics alongside her academic husband. After obtaining her doctorate in 1957, Luchins again pursued teaching, teaching for four years at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

before being appointed as an associate professor at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was established in 1824 by Steph ...

in 1962. In 1970, she became the first female full professor at Rensselaer, where she remained until her retirement in 1992.

Awards and achievements

Luchins' success in teaching and advising students was recognized throughout her career by the Rensselaer Distinguished Teaching Award, the Darrin Counseling Award, the Martin Luther King Jr Award, and the Rensselaer Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Award. She was named a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

in 1982. In 1998, Luchins accepted an honorary membership in the Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications.

Personal life

In 1942 she married Abraham Luchins, an

educational psychologist An educational psychologist is a psychologist whose differentiating functions may include diagnostic and psycho-educational assessment, psychological counseling in educational communities ( students, teachers, parents, and academic authorit ...

. The couple had five children together.

Selected publications

*1947 (with Abraham S. Luchins): ''A Structural Approach to the Teaching of the Concept of Area in Intuitive Geometry'' *1953 (with Abraham S. Luchins): ''The Satiation Theory of Figural After-Effects and Gestalt Principles of Perception'' *1959 (with Abraham S. Luchins): ''Rigidity of Behavior - A Variational Approach to the Effect of Einstellung.'' University of Oregon Books: Eugene, Oregon. *1965 (with Abraham S. Luchins): ''Logical Foundations of Mathematics for Behavioral Scientists''. Holt, Rinehart: New York. *1969 (with Abraham S. Luchins): ''The Search for Factors that Extremize the Autokinetic Effect''. Faculty-Student Association: State University of New York at Albany. *1979: ''Sex Differences in Mathematics: How Not to Deal with Them''. American Mathematical Monthly.

References

* *

External links

Biography

; by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins (1999)

by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins

- compiled and commented by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins

by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins {{DEFAULTSORT:Luchins, Edith Hirsch 20th-century American psychologists American women psychologists Gestalt psychologists American psychology writers American textbook writers Women textbook writers 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American women scientists Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty University of Oregon alumni Brooklyn College faculty Brooklyn College alumni Polish emigrants to the United States 1921 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American women mathematicians Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science