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.
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.
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]
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.
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...
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