Paul Wolfskehl
Encyclopedia
Paul Friedrich Wolfskehl (30 June 1856 in Darmstadt
- 13 September 1906 in Darmstadt), was an industrialist with an interest in mathematics. He bequeathed 100,000 marks (equivalent to 1,000,000 pounds in today’s money) to the first person to prove Fermat's Last Theorem
.
He was the younger of two sons of a rich Jewish banker, Joseph Carl Theodor Wolfskehl.
His older brother, the jurist Wilhelm Otto Wolfskehl, took over the family bank after the death of his father. Paul became a doctor of medicine. At about this time, he began to suffer from multiple sclerosis
, which eventually forced him to pursue another career. He chose mathematics.
There are a number of theories concerning the prize's origin. The most romantic is that he was spurned by a young lady and decided to commit suicide, but was distracted by what he thought was an error in a paper by Ernst Kummer
, who had detected a flaw in Augustin Cauchy's attempted proof of Fermat's famous problem. This rekindled his will to live and, in gratitude, he established the prize. This story was traced by Philip Davis and William Chinn in their 1969 book 3.1416 and All That to renowned mathematician Alexander Ostrowski
, who supposedly heard it from another, unidentified source. Another, more prosaic story claims that Wolfskehl wanted to leave as little as possible to his shrewish wife. Yet another story, told in "The man who loved only numbers" by Mark Hoffman, tells that Wolfskehl actually missed his supposed suicide time because he was in the library studying the Theorem. Upon realizing that, he concluded that the contemplation of mathematics was more rewarding than a beautiful woman so he decided not to kill himself. He bankrolled the Theorem because it "saved his life".
In any case, on June 27, 1997, the prize was finally won by Andrew Wiles
. By then, due in part to the hyperinflation
Germany suffered after the end of World War I, the award had dwindled to £30,000.
The play From Abstraction by Robert Thorogood is based on the life of Paul Wolfskehl. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
on 1 November 2006 and 29 August 2008.
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
- 13 September 1906 in Darmstadt), was an industrialist with an interest in mathematics. He bequeathed 100,000 marks (equivalent to 1,000,000 pounds in today’s money) to the first person to prove Fermat's Last Theorem
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem states that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two....
.
He was the younger of two sons of a rich Jewish banker, Joseph Carl Theodor Wolfskehl.
His older brother, the jurist Wilhelm Otto Wolfskehl, took over the family bank after the death of his father. Paul became a doctor of medicine. At about this time, he began to suffer from multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, which eventually forced him to pursue another career. He chose mathematics.
There are a number of theories concerning the prize's origin. The most romantic is that he was spurned by a young lady and decided to commit suicide, but was distracted by what he thought was an error in a paper by Ernst Kummer
Ernst Kummer
Ernst Eduard Kummer was a German mathematician. Skilled in applied mathematics, Kummer trained German army officers in ballistics; afterwards, he taught for 10 years in a gymnasium, the German equivalent of high school, where he inspired the mathematical career of Leopold Kronecker.-Life:Kummer...
, who had detected a flaw in Augustin Cauchy's attempted proof of Fermat's famous problem. This rekindled his will to live and, in gratitude, he established the prize. This story was traced by Philip Davis and William Chinn in their 1969 book 3.1416 and All That to renowned mathematician Alexander Ostrowski
Alexander Ostrowski
Alexander Markowich Ostrowski , was a mathematician.His father Mark having been a merchant, Alexander Ostrowski attended the Kiev College of Commerce, not a high school, and thus had an insufficient qualification to be admitted to university...
, who supposedly heard it from another, unidentified source. Another, more prosaic story claims that Wolfskehl wanted to leave as little as possible to his shrewish wife. Yet another story, told in "The man who loved only numbers" by Mark Hoffman, tells that Wolfskehl actually missed his supposed suicide time because he was in the library studying the Theorem. Upon realizing that, he concluded that the contemplation of mathematics was more rewarding than a beautiful woman so he decided not to kill himself. He bankrolled the Theorem because it "saved his life".
In any case, on June 27, 1997, the prize was finally won by Andrew Wiles
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles KBE FRS is a British mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford University, specializing in number theory...
. By then, due in part to the hyperinflation
Hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...
Germany suffered after the end of World War I, the award had dwindled to £30,000.
The play From Abstraction by Robert Thorogood is based on the life of Paul Wolfskehl. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
on 1 November 2006 and 29 August 2008.
See also
- Andrew BealAndrew BealD. Andrew "Andy" Beal is a Dallas, Texas-based billionaire businessman who was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. He made his fortune in banking and real estate and is the founder and chairman of Beal Bank and Beal Aerospace Technologies. Beal is also known for his high-stakes poker games and...
, a Dallas banker who has offered $100,000 for a proof or disproof of Beal's conjectureBeal's conjectureBeal's conjecture is a conjecture in number theory proposed by Andrew Beal in about 1993; a similar conjecture was suggested independently at about the same time by Andrew Granville.... - Millennium Prize ProblemsMillennium Prize ProblemsThe Millennium Prize Problems are seven problems in mathematics that were stated by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000. As of September 2011, six of the problems remain unsolved. A correct solution to any of the problems results in a US$1,000,000 prize being awarded by the institute...