.gif)
Piet Hein (Denmark)
Encyclopedia
Piet Hein was a Danish scientist
, mathematician
, inventor, designer
, author
, and poet
, often writing under the Old Norse pseudonym "Kumbel" meaning "tombstone". His short poems, known as gruks
or grooks (Danish: Gruk), first started to appear in the daily newspaper "Politiken
" shortly after the Nazi occupation
in April 1940 under the pseudonym "Kumbel Kumbell".
, Denmark
. He studied at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Copenhagen
(later to become the Niels Bohr Institute
), and Technical University of Denmark
. Yale
awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1972. He died in his home on Funen
, Denmark
in 1996.
He was a direct descendant of Piet Pieterszoon Hein
, the Dutch naval hero of the 17th century.
in the inter-War period, found himself confronted with a dilemma when the Germans occupied Denmark. He felt that he had three choices: Do nothing, flee to "neutral" Sweden or join the Danish resistance movement
. As he explained in 1968, "Sweden was out because I am not Swedish, but Danish. I could not remain at home because, if I had, every knock at the door would have sent shivers up my spine. So, I joined the Resistance."
Taking as his first weapon the instrument with which he was most familiar, the pen, he wrote and had published his first "grook" [gruk in Danish]. It passed the censors who did not grasp its real meaning.
The Danes, however, understood its importance and soon it was found as graffiti all around the country. The deeper meaning of the grook was that even if you lose your freedom ("losing one glove"), do not lose your patriotism and self-respect by collaborating with the Nazis ("throwing away the other"), because that sense of having betrayed your country will be more painful when freedom has been found again someday. Denmark got the message.
After Liberation, Scandinavia
n architects, tired of square buildings but cognizant that circular buildings were impractical, asked Piet Hein for a solution. Applying his mathematical prowess to the problem, Piet Hein created the superellipse
which became the hallmark of modern Scandinavian architecture.
In addition to the thousands of grooks he wrote, Piet Hein devised the games of Hex, Tangloids
, Morra, Tower, Polytaire, TacTix
, Nimbi, Qrazy Qube, Pyramystery, and the Soma cube
. He advocated the use of the superellipse curve in city planning, furniture
making and other realms. He also invented a perpetual calendar
called the Astro Calendar and marketed housewares based on the superellipse and Superegg
.
1937: married Gunver Holck, divorced.
1942: married: Gerda Ruth (Nena) Conheim, divorced.
Sons: Juan Alvaro Hein, born 9 January 1943; Andrés Humberto Hein, born 30 December 1943.
1947: married Anne Cathrina (Trine) Krøyer Pedersen, divorced.
Son: Lars Hein, born 20 May 1950.
1955: married Gerd Ericsson, who died 3 November 1968.
Son: Jotun Hein
, born 19 July 1956; Hugo Piet Hein, born 16 November 1963.
Jotun Hein
proved the Soma cube
's "Basalt Rock" construction impossible at age 12. This was published in the puzzle's instruction manual as "Jotun's Proof". Today he is Professor of Bioinformatics in the Department of Statistics of the University of Oxford and a professorial fellow of University College, Oxford. He was previously the director of the Bioinformatics Research Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark.
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
, mathematician
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....
, inventor, designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, often writing under the Old Norse pseudonym "Kumbel" meaning "tombstone". His short poems, known as gruks
Grook
A grook is a form of short aphoristic poem. It was invented by the Danish poet and scientist Piet Hein. He wrote over 7,000 of them, most in Danish or English, published in 20 volumes...
or grooks (Danish: Gruk), first started to appear in the daily newspaper "Politiken
Politiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
" shortly after the Nazi occupation
Occupation of Denmark
Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to the Allies on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish...
in April 1940 under the pseudonym "Kumbel Kumbell".
Biography
He was born in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. He studied at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
(later to become the Niels Bohr Institute
Niels Bohr Institute
The Niels Bohr Institute is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics and biophysics....
), and Technical University of Denmark
Technical University of Denmark
The Technical University of Denmark , often simply referred to as DTU, is a university just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and is today ranked among Europe's leading engineering institutions, and the...
. Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1972. He died in his home on Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1996.
He was a direct descendant of Piet Pieterszoon Hein
Piet Pieterszoon Hein
Pieter Pietersen Heyn was a Dutch naval officer and folk hero during the Eighty Years' War between the United Provinces and Spain.-Early life:...
, the Dutch naval hero of the 17th century.
Work
Piet Hein, who, in his own words, "played mental ping-pong" with Niels BohrNiels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
in the inter-War period, found himself confronted with a dilemma when the Germans occupied Denmark. He felt that he had three choices: Do nothing, flee to "neutral" Sweden or join the Danish resistance movement
Danish resistance movement
The Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
. As he explained in 1968, "Sweden was out because I am not Swedish, but Danish. I could not remain at home because, if I had, every knock at the door would have sent shivers up my spine. So, I joined the Resistance."
Taking as his first weapon the instrument with which he was most familiar, the pen, he wrote and had published his first "grook" [gruk in Danish]. It passed the censors who did not grasp its real meaning.
The Danes, however, understood its importance and soon it was found as graffiti all around the country. The deeper meaning of the grook was that even if you lose your freedom ("losing one glove"), do not lose your patriotism and self-respect by collaborating with the Nazis ("throwing away the other"), because that sense of having betrayed your country will be more painful when freedom has been found again someday. Denmark got the message.
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n architects, tired of square buildings but cognizant that circular buildings were impractical, asked Piet Hein for a solution. Applying his mathematical prowess to the problem, Piet Hein created the superellipse
Superellipse
A superellipse is a geometric figure defined in the Cartesian coordinate system as the set of all points withwhere n, a and b are positive numbers....
which became the hallmark of modern Scandinavian architecture.
In addition to the thousands of grooks he wrote, Piet Hein devised the games of Hex, Tangloids
Tangloids
Tangloids is a mathematical game for two players created by Piet Hein to model the calculus of spinors.Two flat blocks of wood each pierced with three tiny holes are joined with three parallel strings. Each player holds one of the blocks of wood. The first player holds one block of wood still,...
, Morra, Tower, Polytaire, TacTix
TacTix
TacTix is a two-player strategy game invented by Piet Hein. It is essentially a two-dimensional version of Nim. Players alternate taking pieces away from a square grid, as many contiguous pieces as desired from a single row or column...
, Nimbi, Qrazy Qube, Pyramystery, and the Soma cube
Soma cube
The Soma cube is a solid dissection puzzle invented by Piet Hein in 1933 during a lecture on quantum mechanics conducted by Werner Heisenberg. Seven pieces made out of unit cubes must be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube...
. He advocated the use of the superellipse curve in city planning, furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
making and other realms. He also invented a perpetual calendar
Perpetual calendar
A perpetual calendar is a calendar which is good for a span of many years, such as the Runic calendar.- General information :...
called the Astro Calendar and marketed housewares based on the superellipse and Superegg
Superegg
In geometry, a superegg is a solid of revolution obtained by rotating an elongated super-ellipse with exponent greater than 2 around its longest axis. It is a special case of super-ellipsoid....
.
Personal
Piet Hein was married four times and had five sons from his last three marriages.1937: married Gunver Holck, divorced.
1942: married: Gerda Ruth (Nena) Conheim, divorced.
Sons: Juan Alvaro Hein, born 9 January 1943; Andrés Humberto Hein, born 30 December 1943.
1947: married Anne Cathrina (Trine) Krøyer Pedersen, divorced.
Son: Lars Hein, born 20 May 1950.
1955: married Gerd Ericsson, who died 3 November 1968.
Son: Jotun Hein
Jotun Hein
Jotun Piet Hein is Professor of Bioinformatics at the Department of Statistics of the University of Oxford and a professorial fellow of University College, Oxford...
, born 19 July 1956; Hugo Piet Hein, born 16 November 1963.
Jotun Hein
Jotun Hein
Jotun Piet Hein is Professor of Bioinformatics at the Department of Statistics of the University of Oxford and a professorial fellow of University College, Oxford...
proved the Soma cube
Soma cube
The Soma cube is a solid dissection puzzle invented by Piet Hein in 1933 during a lecture on quantum mechanics conducted by Werner Heisenberg. Seven pieces made out of unit cubes must be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube...
's "Basalt Rock" construction impossible at age 12. This was published in the puzzle's instruction manual as "Jotun's Proof". Today he is Professor of Bioinformatics in the Department of Statistics of the University of Oxford and a professorial fellow of University College, Oxford. He was previously the director of the Bioinformatics Research Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark.
External links
- Piet Hein Homepage
- Notes on Piet Hein, including several sample grooks.
- Superellipse (MathWorld)
- Grooks by Piet Hein