GORDAN ON BINARY FORMS

GORDAN. [PAUL ALBERT].

Die Simultanen Systeme binärer Formen.

Leipzig, B. G. Teubner, 1870. 8vo. Bound with the original wrappers in black full cloth with gilt lettering to spine. In "Mathematische Annalen, 2. band, 1870". Entire issue offered. Two library labels pasted on to pasted down front free end-paper and library stamt to verso of title page. [Gordan:] Pp. 227-280. [Entire issue: IV, 649, (1), pp.].

First printing of Gordan's important paper in which he proved that any finite system of binary forms of arbitrary degree had a complete system of invariants. These archievement earned Gordan the name "King of invariant theory". (Kolmogorov, Mathematics of the 19th century, p. 85).

Paul Gordan, German mathematician, was a major contributor to the field of invariant theory. He collaborated with Rudolf Clebsch on both invariant theory and algebraic geometry, and also developed proofs demonstrating that the numbers e and ? are transcendent numbers, numbers that are not the root of any algebraic equation with rational coefficients. A strict mathematical logician, Gordan commented that David Hilbert's less formal approach to mathematics was "not mathematics, it is theology." (Schlager, Science and Its Times, P. 269)

Order-nr.: 45201