Jacob Tamarkin
Encyclopedia
Jacob David Tamarkin was a Russian-American mathematician
best known for his work in mathematical analysis
.
) to a wealthy family. His father, David Tamarkin, was a physician
and his mother, Sophie Krassilschikov, a member of the landed gentry
. He moved to St Petersburg
as a child and grew up there. In his gym
nasium he befriended Alexander Friedmann, a cosmologist, with whom he wrote his first mathematics paper in 1906, and remained friends and colleagues until Friedmann's sudden death in 1925.
Vladimir Smirnov
was his other friend from the same gymnasium. Many years later, they coauthored a popular textbook titled, "A course in higher mathematics".
Tamarkin studied in St Petersburg University where he defended his dissertation in 1917. His advisor was Andrei Markov
. After the graduation, Tamarkin worked at Communication Institute
and Electrotechnical Institute
. In 1919 he temporarily became a professor and a dean at Perm State University
, but a year later returned to St Petersburg where he received a professorship at St Petersburg Polytechnical University
.
In 1925 he became worried about Russia's stability and decided to immigrate
to the United States
. His favorite memory was the examination in analytic geometry
he had to do with an American consul in Riga
, when he tried to prove his identity. In the U.S., he became a lecturer at Dartmouth College
. In 1927, Tamarkin received a professorship at Brown University
where he remained until his retirement in 1945, after suffering a heart attack. He died later that year in Bethesda, Maryland
, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Tamarkin's work spanned a number of areas, including number theory
, integral equation
s, Fourier series
, complex analysis
, moment problem, boundary value problem
and differential equation
s. He was a proponent and a founding co-editor of the Mathematical Reviews
(which was based at Brown at that time), together with Otto Neugebauer and William Feller
. He was also an active supporter of the American Mathematical Society
, a member of the council starting 1931, and a vice-president in 1942-43. He had over twenty doctoral students at Brown, including Dorothy Lewis Bernstein
, Nelson Dunford
, George Forsythe
and Derrick Lehmer
.
Tamarkin was married to a Helene Weichardt (1888–1934) from a wealthy family of German ancestry
. Their son, Paul Tamarkin (1922–1977), was a physicist
for RAND Corporation.
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
best known for his work in mathematical analysis
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical analysis, which mathematicians refer to simply as analysis, has its beginnings in the rigorous formulation of infinitesimal calculus. It is a branch of pure mathematics that includes the theories of differentiation, integration and measure, limits, infinite series, and analytic functions...
.
Biography
Tamarkin was born in Chernigov, Imperial Russia (now Chernihiv, UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) to a wealthy family. His father, David Tamarkin, was a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and his mother, Sophie Krassilschikov, a member of the landed gentry
Landed gentry
Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....
. He moved to St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
as a child and grew up there. In his gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium he befriended Alexander Friedmann, a cosmologist, with whom he wrote his first mathematics paper in 1906, and remained friends and colleagues until Friedmann's sudden death in 1925.
Vladimir Smirnov
Vladimir Ivanovich Smirnov (mathematician)
Vladimir Ivanovich Smirnov was a Russian mathematician who made significant contributions in both pure and applied mathematics, and also in the history of mathematics....
was his other friend from the same gymnasium. Many years later, they coauthored a popular textbook titled, "A course in higher mathematics".
Tamarkin studied in St Petersburg University where he defended his dissertation in 1917. His advisor was Andrei Markov
Andrey Markov
Andrey Andreyevich Markov was a Russian mathematician. He is best known for his work on theory of stochastic processes...
. After the graduation, Tamarkin worked at Communication Institute
Petersburg State University of Means of Communication
The Petersburg State Transport University is a higher education institution specializing in railway transport. Before 1990 it was known as "Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers"...
and Electrotechnical Institute
Saint Petersburg State Electrotechnical University
Saint Petersburg State Electrotechnical University founded in 1886, and is one of the oldest higher education institutions in Saint Petersburg....
. In 1919 he temporarily became a professor and a dean at Perm State University
Perm State University
Perm State University or PSU is located in the city of Perm, Perm Krai, Russia. Founded in 1916, it claims to be one of the oldest universities in the Ural and eastern territories of Russia. Its current rector is Igor Makarikhin.-History:...
, but a year later returned to St Petersburg where he received a professorship at St Petersburg Polytechnical University
Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University
Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University is a major Russian technical university situated in Saint Petersburg. Previously it was known as the Peter the Great Polytechnical Institute and Kalinin Polytechnical Institute .-Imperial Russia:...
.
In 1925 he became worried about Russia's stability and decided to immigrate
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His favorite memory was the examination in analytic geometry
Analytic geometry
Analytic geometry, or analytical geometry has two different meanings in mathematics. The modern and advanced meaning refers to the geometry of analytic varieties...
he had to do with an American consul in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, when he tried to prove his identity. In the U.S., he became a lecturer at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. In 1927, Tamarkin received a professorship at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
where he remained until his retirement in 1945, after suffering a heart attack. He died later that year in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Tamarkin's work spanned a number of areas, including number theory
Number theory
Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
, integral equation
Integral equation
In mathematics, an integral equation is an equation in which an unknown function appears under an integral sign. There is a close connection between differential and integral equations, and some problems may be formulated either way...
s, Fourier series
Fourier series
In mathematics, a Fourier series decomposes periodic functions or periodic signals into the sum of a set of simple oscillating functions, namely sines and cosines...
, complex analysis
Complex analysis
Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is useful in many branches of mathematics, including number theory and applied mathematics; as well as in physics,...
, moment problem, boundary value problem
Boundary value problem
In mathematics, in the field of differential equations, a boundary value problem is a differential equation together with a set of additional restraints, called the boundary conditions...
and differential equation
Differential equation
A differential equation is a mathematical equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the function itself and its derivatives of various orders...
s. He was a proponent and a founding co-editor of the Mathematical Reviews
Mathematical Reviews
Mathematical Reviews is a journal and online database published by the American Mathematical Society that contains brief synopses of many articles in mathematics, statistics and theoretical computer science.- Reviews :...
(which was based at Brown at that time), together with Otto Neugebauer and William Feller
William Feller
William Feller born Vilibald Srećko Feller , was a Croatian-American mathematician specializing in probability theory.-Early life and education:...
. He was also an active supporter of the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
, a member of the council starting 1931, and a vice-president in 1942-43. He had over twenty doctoral students at Brown, including Dorothy Lewis Bernstein
Dorothy Lewis Bernstein
Dorothy Lewis Bernstein was an American mathematician known for her work in applied mathematics, statistics, computer programming, and her research on the Laplace transform....
, Nelson Dunford
Nelson Dunford
Nelson Dunford was an American mathematician, known for his work in functional analysis, namely integration of vector valued functions, ergodic theory, and linear operators. The Dunford decomposition, Dunford–Pettis property, and Dunford-Schwartz theorem bear his name.He studied mathematics at the...
, George Forsythe
George Forsythe
George Elmer Forsythe was the founder and head of Stanford University's Computer Science Department. He served as professor and chairman of the department from 1965 until his death...
and Derrick Lehmer
Derrick Henry Lehmer
Derrick Henry "Dick" Lehmer was an American mathematician who refined Édouard Lucas' work in the 1930s and devised the Lucas–Lehmer test for Mersenne primes...
.
Tamarkin was married to a Helene Weichardt (1888–1934) from a wealthy family of German ancestry
History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union
The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. The 1914 census puts the number of Germans living in Russian Empire at 2,416,290. In 1989, the German population of the Soviet Union was roughly 2 million. In the 2002 Russian census, 597,212...
. Their son, Paul Tamarkin (1922–1977), was a physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
for RAND Corporation.
External links
- Tamarkin's mathematical school (in RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
) - Jacob David Tamarkin, Mathematical Reviews history page (with a photo).