1826-1866

German Mathematician

Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann was a brilliant German mathematician who recognized the application of his work in non-Euclidean geometry to physics, including the shape of space itself. This mathematical advance made an immense contribution to modern theoretical physics, including laying the foundation for Albert Einstein's (1879-1955) theory of general relativity.

Riemann was born on September 17, 1826, in Breselenz, Germany, the second child of a Lutheran pastor. His family life was happy, and he progressed from his father's early tutelage to the local gymnasium, or secondary school, where his mathematical abilities quickly outstripped those of his teachers. The director of the gymnasium made mathematical texts available to him and allowed him to study them on his own. Otherwise, his education in the standard classical curriculum progressed normally, and he went on to the universities of Gottingen and Berlin, returning to Gottingen...