Werner Boy
Encyclopedia
Werner Boy was a German
mathematician
. He was the discoverer and eponym
of Boy's surface
— a three dimensional
projection of the real projective plane
without singularities
, the first of its kind. He discovered it in 1901 after his thesis adviser, David Hilbert
, asked him to prove that it was not possible to immerse the real projective plane in three dimensional space. Boy sketched several models of the surface, and discovered that it could have 3-fold rotational symmetry, but was unable to find a parametric model
for the surface. It was not until 1978 that Bernard Morin
found the first parametrisation, with the aid of computers.
After completing his dissertation, Boy worked as a Gymnasium instructor in Krefeld, Germany. He later returned to his birth town of Barmen (today Wuppertal
) to teach. He died as a soldier in the first weeks of World War I
on 6 September 1914.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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....
. He was the discoverer and eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
of Boy's surface
Boy's surface
In geometry, Boy's surface is an immersion of the real projective plane in 3-dimensional space found by Werner Boy in 1901...
— a three dimensional
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
projection of the real projective plane
Real projective plane
In mathematics, the real projective plane is an example of a compact non-orientable two-dimensional manifold, that is, a one-sided surface. It cannot be embedded in our usual three-dimensional space without intersecting itself...
without singularities
Mathematical singularity
In mathematics, a singularity is in general a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined, or a point of an exceptional set where it fails to be well-behaved in some particular way, such as differentiability...
, the first of its kind. He discovered it in 1901 after his thesis adviser, David Hilbert
David Hilbert
David Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
, asked him to prove that it was not possible to immerse the real projective plane in three dimensional space. Boy sketched several models of the surface, and discovered that it could have 3-fold rotational symmetry, but was unable to find a parametric model
Parametric equation
In mathematics, parametric equation is a method of defining a relation using parameters. A simple kinematic example is when one uses a time parameter to determine the position, velocity, and other information about a body in motion....
for the surface. It was not until 1978 that Bernard Morin
Bernard Morin
Bernard Morin is a French mathematician, specifically a topologist, born in 1931, who is now retired. He has been blind since age 6 due to glaucoma, but his blindness did not prevent him from having a successful career in mathematics....
found the first parametrisation, with the aid of computers.
After completing his dissertation, Boy worked as a Gymnasium instructor in Krefeld, Germany. He later returned to his birth town of Barmen (today Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
) to teach. He died as a soldier in the first weeks of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
on 6 September 1914.