Bernhard Riemann
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
George Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (September 17 1826 - July 20 1866) was born the second of six children of a Lutheran pastor. Growing up in a village near Dannenberg in Germany, Riemann displayed a remarkable gift for mathematics, even from a very young age. As a boy, Riemann had regular health issues, including symptoms of consumption.
Bernhard was very family oriented and grew up in a religious home. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as a Protestant minister, but he was excessively shy. His shyness led to many breakdowns and exacerbated his health issues. Neverthless, he stayed true to his religion and sincere in his Christian faith.
In the spring of 1846 Riemann enrolled at the University of Göttingen. He entered the theology faculty but also attended some mathematics lectures and transferred to the faculty of philosophy so that he could study mathematics.
Riemann moved from Göttingen to Berlin University in 1847 to study from the best at the time, including Steiner, Jacobi, Dirichlet and Eisenstein. His work with Eisenstein included the use of complex variables in elliptic function theory; this work eventually became a critical part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Riemann also made significant contributions to the theory of functions, complex analysis, and number theory.
At age 36, he suffered respiratory diseases that sent him even further downhill. Despite all his troubles, his faith remained strong. Eventually, Riemann's lifelong health problems forced him into temporary retirement. He moved to the Harz area with his friends, focusing on excursions and "Naturphilosophie". He later returned to Göttingen to work as a professor; shortly after, he received word that his sister and brother had died.
While travelling in Paris he met and fell in love with Elise Koch. Just a month after their marriage, his health failed again and he died. On his death bed his last words were the Lord’s prayer. His tombstone has the inscription of Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to them that love God.”
Publications
- Turning Points in the Conception of Mathematics description (book)
