Václav Hlavatý

Václav Hlavatý (27 January 1894 – 11 January 1969) was a noted Czech-American mathematician, who wrote on the theory of relativity and corresponded extensively with Albert Einstein on the subject.[1] In particular, Hlavatý solved some very difficult equations relating to Einstein's Unified field theory, which was featured in the news media as one of the great scientific achievements of 1953.[2] Einstein himself was reported to have said that if anyone could solve the equations it would be Professor Hlavatý, which proved to be the case.[3]

He was born in Louny, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) and died in Bloomington, Indiana. He obtained his PhD in 1921 at the Charles University in Prague[4][5] and during World War II participated in the Prague uprising,[3] but his academic career was mainly at Indiana University, which he joined in 1948, and where he became Professor, later Emeritus, of Mathematics. A special book of mathematical essays was published in his honour.[6]

In 1931 he married Olga Neumannova, and they had a daughter, Olga.[4]

Some publications

References

  1. ↑ Indiana University fast facts
  2. ↑ Johns Hopkins Television Programs 1948-1960: Highlights of science for 1953
  3. 1 2 Václav Hlavatý Czech biography, citing the New York Herald Tribune
  4. 1 2 www.mff.cuni.cz Prof. Václav Hlavatý
  5. ↑ V. Hlavatý (1928) Mathematische Zeitschrift, Vol 28, No 1, Bemerkung zur Arbeit von Herrn T. Y. Thomas
  6. ↑ B. Hoffman (ed.), Perspectives in Geometry and Relativity: Essays in Honor of Václav Hlavatý, Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1966.

External links

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