Math ability is passed from parent to child[1]with the most famous example being theBernoulli family.[2]Thissecond generation phenomenon also holds in physics[3]but in that field theNobel Prize in Physics gives a tool for tracking it, since it has been given out for more than 120 years, and there are on average more than two Nobel Prizes in Physics given each year.[4]There is no comparable award in mathematics[5]but perusing (for example) theMacTutor History of Mathematics Archive[6] list of biographies enables the construction of a similar list of notable two-generation pairs of mathematicians.
The following is a list of parent-child pairs who both made contributions to mathematics significant enough to be noted in the citation for a prestigious prize, in an obituary in a major math journal, or in a similarly authoritative source. All are father-son except forEmmy Noether andCathleen Morawetz. The list is in chronological order by birth date of the parent.