Luther P. Eisenhart | |
|---|---|
.jpg) c.1933 | |
| Born | Luther Pfahler Eisenhart (1876-01-13)13 January 1876 |
| Died | 28 October 1965(1965-10-28) (aged 89) |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Princeton University |
| Dean of Princeton University Graduate School | |
| In office 1933–1945 | |
| Preceded by | Augustus Trowbridge |
| Succeeded by | Hugh Stott Taylor |
Luther Pfahler Eisenhart (13 January 1876 – 28 October 1965) was an Americanmathematician, best known today for his contributions tosemi-Riemannian geometry.
Eisenhart was born inYork, Pennsylvania, and graduated fromGettysburg College in 1896. He earned his doctorate in 1900 atJohns Hopkins University, where he was influenced (at long range) by the work ofGaston Darboux and at shorter range by that ofThomas Craig. During the next two decades, Eisenhart's research focused on moving frames after the French school, but around 1921 took a different turn when he became enamored of the mathematical challenges and entrancing beauty of a new theory of gravitation,Albert Einstein'sgeneral theory of relativity.
Eisenhart played a central role in American mathematics in the early twentieth century. He served as chairman of the mathematics department atPrinceton University and later as Dean of the Graduate School there from 1933 to 1945.[1] He is widely credited with guiding the development in America of the mathematical background needed for the further development of general relativity, through his influential textbooks and his personal interaction withAlbert Einstein,Oswald Veblen, andJohn von Neumann at the nearbyInstitute for Advanced Study, as well as with gifted students such asAbraham Haskel Taub.
In the early 40s he chaired the "Reference Committee", formed in June 1940 for editors of scientific journals to send the papers submitted to them, in order to check that the papers did not contain results (especially regarding nuclear physics) whose public knowledge could be detrimental to the US war efforts.[2]
Eisenhart was an elected member of both theAmerican Philosophical Society and the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences.[3][4]
Eisenhart indirectly contributed to popularization of science.[5] In 1939, as Dean of the Graduate School, he hosted a tea for incoming students includingRichard Feynman. When asked by Eisenhart's wife "would you like cream or lemon in your tea?", Feynman, uncomfortable in the situation, stammered "both please." This elicited the condescending response "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" a phrase later immortalized as the title of the futureNobel Laureate's best selling memoir.
| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Dod Professor of Mathematics atPrinceton University 1929–1945 | Succeeded by |
