Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind, Mathematics, Biographies

Related Category: Mathematics, Biographies

Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind[yOOl´yoos vil´helm rikh´Art dA´dukint] Pronunciation Key, 1831–1916, German mathematician. Dedekind studied at GOttingen under the German mathematician Carl Gauss and in 1852 received his doctorate there for a thesis on Eulerian integrals. In 1858 he went to ZUrich as a professor; in 1862 he returned to his home town Brunswick to become a professor there. Dedekind led the effort to formulate rigorous definitions of basic mathematical concepts. Perhaps his best-known contribution is the "Dedekind cut," whereby real numbers can be defined in terms of rational numbers. He also did fundamental work in algebraic number theory, introducing the notion of ideal in ring systems.

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