Václav Hlavatý was a noted Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

, who wrote on the theory of relativity

Theory of relativity

The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....

 and corresponded extensively with Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

 on the subject. In particular, Hlavatý solved some very difficult equations relating to Einstein's Unified field theory

Unified field theory

In physics, a unified field theory, occasionally referred to as a uniform field theory, is a type of field theory that allows all that is usually thought of as fundamental forces and elementary particles to be written in terms of a single field. There is no accepted unified field theory, and thus...

, which was featured in the news media as one of the great scientific achievements of 1953. Einstein himself was reported to have said that if anyone could solve the equations it would be Professor Hlavatý, which proved to be the case.

He was born in Louny

Louny

Louny is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It is situated on the River Ohře.-History:The city was founded in the 12th century . The Church of St Peter stands on the site of the original fort...

, Bohemia

Kingdom of Bohemia

The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...

 (now in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

) and died in Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....

. He obtained his PhD in 1921 at the Charles University in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 and during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 participated in the Prague uprising

Prague uprising

The Prague uprising was an attempt by the Czech resistance to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation during World War II. Events began on May 5, 1945, in the last moments of the war in Europe...

, but his academic career was mainly at Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

, which he joined in 1948, and where he became Professor, later Emeritus, of Mathematics. A special book of mathematical essays was published in his honour.

In 1931 he married Olga Neumannova, and they had a daughter, Olga.

Some publications

• "The Elementary Basic Principles of the Unified Theory of Relativity," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 38.3 (1952): 243-247.
• "The Einstein Connection of the Unified Theory of Relativity," PNAS 38.5 (1952): 415-419.
• "The Schrödinger Final Affine Field Laws," PNAS 38.12 (1952): 1052-1058.
• "The Spinor Connection in the Unified Einstein Theory of Relativity," PNAS 39.6 (1953): 501-506. full text (pdf)
• "Connections Between Einstein's Two Unified Theories of Relativity," PNAS 39.6 (1953): 507-510. full text (pdf)
• Geometry of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory, Groningen: Noordhoff, 1957.

External links

• Václav Hlavatý biography (in Czech)
• Václav Hlavatý biography (in Czech) includes photograph