J. Arthur Seebach Jr (May 17, 1938 – December 3, 1996) was anAmericanmathematician.
Seebach studiedGreek language as an undergraduate, making it a secondmajor with mathematics.
Seebach studied with A. I. Weinzweig atNorthwestern University. He earned a Ph.D. with the thesisCones and Homotopy in Categories. Seebach began to teach atSaint Olaf College inNorthfield, Minnesota in 1965. He, his wife Linda A. Seebach, andLynn A. Steen wrote an expository article "What is a Sheaf".[1] The paper showed that asheaf is useful in analysis, algebra, and geometry when consideringgerms ofholomorphic functions,local rings, anddifferential forms. J. Arthur also wrote "Injectives and Homotopy".[2]
In 1971 Seebach and Steen took over the Book Reviews section ofAmerican Mathematical Monthly, includingTelegraphic Reviews which ran for several pages every month. The massive effort was eventually distributed over some 50 mathematicians at Saint Olaf,Carleton, andMacalester Colleges. Telegraphic Reviews, intelegraphic style, was started byKenneth O. May in 1965 and provided an American posting of new publications before the digital age.
Seebach and Steen conducted research in a 1967 summer school with students investigating theindependence of conditions ontopological spaces. They summarized their work inCounterexamples in Topology (1978).
In 1975 Seebach and Steen became co-editors ofMathematics Magazine. Steen wrote:
Seebach welcomed the rise of computers when he assembled aHeathkit H8.In 1986 he became editor of Mathematical Notes inAmerican Mathematical Monthly.
Beyond mathematics, Seebach sang with the Bach Society of Minnesota. The craftsmanship of theStudebaker automobile appealed to Seebach and he operated a side-business in Studebaker parts, driving some, and publishing anewsletter for fellow aficionados of the car. His newsletter experience was of value toMathematical Association of America when they began their own newsletter.
Seebach died in 1996 from complications ofdiabetes.
