Sophus Lie (1842-1899) is without doubt one of Norway's greatest scientific talents. His mathematical works have made him famous around the world no less than Niels Henrik Abel. The terms Lie groups and Lie algebra are today part of the standard mathematical vocabulary.
In his comprehensive biography the author Arild Stubhaug let us come close to both the person Sophus Lie and his time. We follow him through childhood at the vicarage in Nordfjordeid, his growing up in Moss, school and studying in Christiania, travelling in Europe and his contacts with the leading mathematicians of his time. The academic and scientific career brought Lie from Christiania to Leipzig as professor, before the attempt to call him back to Norway, when she stood on the threshhold to national sovereignty, was successful.

This is the very first biography of Sophus Lie, one of the great and influential mathematicians in the history of mathematics, written by A.Stubhaug, who is both a historian and a mathematician. As Arild Stubhaug's Abel biography, this book is a work of outstanding quality Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Arild Stubhaug is an acclaimed poet and biographer. Born in 1948 in Naustdal, Norway, he holds university degrees in mathematics, literature, and the history of religion. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Oslo. He made his literary debut in 1970 with a poetry book, and he has since published numerous collections of poetry and other important literary works. His biography Niels Henrik Abel and His Times: Called Too Soon from Flames Afar (published in English by Springer-Verlag, 2000) won the prestigious Brage Prize in Norway in 1996. This was followed by two other major works: The Mathematician Sophus Lie: It Was the Audacity of My Thinking (also published in English by Springer-Verlag, 2002), and a biography of the Norwegian writer Conrad Nicolai Schwach.

Inhalt
I The Measure of a Life.- Tracking Him Down: A Torrent of Stories.- II Family Background and Upbringing.- The Family Tree.- The Priestly Family at Nordfjordeid.- Father's Home in Moss.- III School and Education.- Nissen's School. Examen Artium.- Student Life.- The Lack of a Calling.- IV In Tune with the Times.- Into Mathematical History.- There was a Mathematician in Him.- The First Tour Abroad.- Parliamentary Professor.- V Professor in Christiania.- My Inner Life Has Been Most Mighty.- My Life's Good Fortune.- Marriage at Last.- Herr Professor mit seiner Gemahlin.- In the Lee of the Modern Breakthrough.- A Steady Stream of Works.- The Mathematical Milieu at Home and Abroad.- It is Lonely, Terribly Lonely.- Summoned to Leipzig.- VI Professor in Leipzig.- The Coming Period: A More Difficult Balancing Act.- In the Big City of Leipzig.- Breakdown.- Fame.- Conflicts.- Norwegian Students.- Back to Norway.- VII At the End of the Road.- The Final Years.- Appendices.- Chronology.- Notes and Commentaries.- Sophus Lie's Descendants.- Chronological Bibliography of Sophus Lie's Published Works.- Acknowledgements.- List of Literature.- Index of Names.