David van Dantzig

David van Dantzig
Born(1900-09-23)September 23, 1900
Amsterdam
DiedJuly 22, 1959(1959-07-22) (aged 58)
Amsterdam
NationalityDutch
Alma materUniversity of Amsterdam
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsUniversity of Amsterdam
Doctoral advisorBartel Leendert van der Waerden
Doctoral students

David van Dantzig (September 23, 1900 – July 22, 1959) was a Dutch mathematician, well known for the construction in topology of the solenoid. He was a member of the Significs Group.

Biography

Born to a Jewish family in Amsterdam in 1900,[1] van Dantzig started to study Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam in 1917, where Gerrit Mannoury lectured.[2] He received his PhD at the University of Groningen in 1931 with a thesis entitled "Studien over topologische algebra" under supervision of Bartel Leendert van der Waerden.[3]

Topological algebra made its first appearance in the paper of Kürschak ..., where the definition of an abstract field with a valuation is clearly set forth. The foundation was completed in the thesis of van Dantzig ...; topological groups, rings, fields, and linear spaces are there defined, and their basic properties are established.[4]

Van Dantzig, in collaboration with Professors J.G. Van der Corput and J.F. Koksma, played a pivotal role in establishing the 'Mathematical Centre' in Amsterdam. This institution, funded by both government and industry, was designed to amalgamate all facets of pure and applied mathematics under a single entity. As the head of the Department of Mathematical Statistics, van Dantzig was instrumental in enhancing research and fostering consultancy, gaining widespread recognition both nationally and internationally.

He was appointed professor at the Delft University of Technology in 1938, and at the University of Amsterdam in 1946. Among his doctoral students were Jan Hemelrijk (1950), Johan Kemperman (1950), David Johannes Stoker (1955), and Constance van Eeden (1958).[3] In Amsterdam he was one of the founders of the Mathematisch Centrum. At the University of Amsterdam he was succeeded by Jan Hemelrijk.[5]

Originally working on topics in differential geometry and topology, after World War II he focused on probability, emphasizing the applicability to statistical hypothesis testing.[6]

Van Dantzig's contributions to mathematics and statistics were acknowledged through numerous appointments and memberships. In 1949 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen).[7] He was a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the American Statistical Association, and the Royal Statistical Society. His memberships extended to the International Statistical Institute, and he was a prominent figure in the Dutch Statistical Association (Vereniging voor Statistiek). Additionally, van Dantzig held the position of Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in 1951 and spent time working at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C.[5]

In response to the North Sea flood of 1953, the Dutch Government established the Delta Committee, and asked Van Dantzig to develop a mathematical approach to formulate and solve the economic cost-benefit decision model concerning optimal dike height problems in connection with the Delta Works. The work of the Delta Committee, including the work by van Dantzig, finally resulted in statutory minimal safety standards.[8][9][10][11] A comprehensive report on this work, spanning several hundred pages, was found on his desk on the day of his death.[5]

Publications

Books, a selection:

  • 1931. Studien over topologische algebra. Doctoral thesis University of Groningen.
  • 1932. Over de elementen van het wiskundig denken : voordracht. Rede Delft. Groningen : Noordhoff.
  • 1938. Vragen en schijnvragen over ruimte en tijd : een toepassing van den wiskundigen denkvorm. Inaugurale rede Technische Hogeschool te Delft
  • 1948. De functie der wetenschap : drie voordrachten, met discussie. With E.W. Beth and C.F.P. Stutterheim. 's-Gravenhage : Leopold

Articles, a selection:

  • D. van Dantzig, C. Scheffer "On hereditary time discrete stochastic processes, considered as stationary Markov chains, and the corresponding general form of Wald’s fundamental identity," Indag. Math. (16), No.4, (1954), p. 377–388
  • Dantzig, D. van. 1956. Economic decision problems for flood prevention. Econometrica 24(3) 276–287.

References

  1. ^ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "David van Dantzig", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  2. ^ Siegenbeek van Heukelom, J., and Gerard Alberts. "Correspondentie David van Dantzig--Gerrit Mannoury historische notitie SEN, 1." (2000) mentioned:

    Correspondence David van Dantzig--Gerrit Mannoury October 23rd 1917, after the second lecture in a course on analytical geometry David van Dantzig, student of chemistry, wrote a long letter to the professor of mathematics Gerrit Mannoury. It proved the starting point of a life-long symbiosis of pupil and master in mathematics, metamathematics and significs...
  3. ^ a b David van Dantzig at Mathematics Genealogy Project.
  4. ^ Kaplansky, Irving. "Topological algebra". Proc. Intern. Math. Congress, Cambridge, Mass. 1950. Vol. 2. pp. 112–113. (quote from p. 112)
  5. ^ a b c Hemelrijk, J. (1960). "The Statistical Work of David Van Dantzig (1900-1959)". Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 31 (2). Duke University Press: 269–275. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177705893. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Obituary: David van Dantzig" (PDF). academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  7. ^ "David van Dantzig (1900 - 1959)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Economic Decision Problems in Multi-Level Flood Prevention: a new graph-based approach used for real world applications, by Peter J. Zwaneveld and Gerard Verweij" (PDF). CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. May 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  9. ^ van Dantzig, D. (1954). "Mathematical problems raised by the flood disaster 1953". Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, Amsterdam Sept. 2 - 9. Amsterdam: 218–239. Retrieved 16 December 2023 – via Wageningen University.
  10. ^ Econometric decision problems for flood prevention, Econometrica, Vol. 24 (1956), pp. 276-287.
  11. ^ The econometric decision problem concerning the prevention of floods in Holland (in Dutch), Report for the Delta Commission, 1959.

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