Abstract
Two major factors have to be considered to account for Neugebauer’s “Weltanschauung”, in particular his apparent or real rejection of philosophical or political judgments. On the one hand, Neugebauer, as a mathematician and a historian, had to cope, with the double character of mathematics as a science in its continuity and universality, independent of time, and of mathematics as a characteristic and fundamental product of each individual culture. On the other hand emphasis has to be put on Neugebauer being torn between organizational work (institution building, reviewing, editing) and historical research. One has to consider the vicissitudes of Neugebauer’s long and eventful life, which was highlighted by a series of highs and lows and marked by many contradictory, often frustrating and sobering political experiences, mainly connected to repeated emigration.
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Notes
- 1.
What is meant here is the Carlsberg Foundation, which was financed from breweries. The sources of funding for Neugebauer’s position in Copenhagen were manifold, and supported his activities in historical research and in editing. Jessen (1993, 128) notes that Neugebauer was financed between 1934 and 1936 by the Rockefeller and Rask-Ørsted Foundations, and from 1937 to 1939 by the latter and by Carlsberg. See also Ramskov 1995, 345.
- 2.
Veblen appears on the title page of Zentralblatt for the first time in volume 14 (1936).
- 3.
Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC), Weaver diary 1938, vol. 5, 106/107.
- 4.
I am here citing Forman’s general argument about the role of cultural pessimism, not the “strong Forman thesis” about its impact on those who pursued quantum physics.
- 5.
Neugebauer’s reviews of historical books and articles, in particular in the three relevant reviewing journals, Jahrbuch (1927/28), Zentralblatt (1931–1938), and Mathematical Reviews (1940–1953) comprise in total about 300 publications. I only found reviews by Neugebauer in MR during the years up until1953.
- 6.
According to Pyenson 1995, 274, Neugebauer left instructions for his personal correspondence to be destroyed after his death. David Rowe informs me that Neugebauer told him back in 1982 that he intended to burn all his correspondence from ZB. Swerdlow wrote to Rowe that he personally witnessed him throwing out letters at the IAS. Clearly, he himself ordered his own Nachlass there, and aside from the Kennedy letters there are only manuscripts and notes in it.
- 7.
To be cited in the following as NLBH Bonn. Almost all the letters are from Neugebauer to Bessel-Hagen.
- 8.
Bessel-Hagen served as a kind of assistant to O. Toeplitz in their work for “Quellen and Studien zur Geschichte der Mathematik”, co-edited from 1929 by Toeplitz, Neugebauer and J. Stenzel (see below). The correspondence with Bessel-Hagen contains interesting judgments made by Neugebauer about the importance of his historical discoveries. In one discussion from 1931 about C.L. Siegel’s planned edition of Riemann’s manuscripts in “Quellen and Studien”, which was viewed very favorably by Neugebauer, he insists on the need for close collaboration between historians and mathematicians (NLBH, nos 60 and 61).
- 9.
Courant’s correspondence is located in the Archives of New York University, Elmar Bobst Library. However, to this date it is not yet registered with call numbers. It will be cited as Courant Papers New York City. One of the few biographical documents from Neugebauer’s hand is his address (Neugebauer 1963) to Courant’s 75th birthday. (available online at https://sites.google.com/site/neugebauerconference2010/web-exhibition-neugebauer-at-goettingen).
- 10.
These Archives will be cited in the following as RAC. Some documents have been published earlier in a German book (Siegmund-Schultze 1993) that focuses on mathematical abstracting journals. The monograph on Rockefeller’s contribution to the internationalization of mathematics (Siegmund-Schultze 2001) stressed the role of pure mathematical research, which was at the time the primary concern of the Rockefeller philanthropies.
- 11.
In the following referred to as SWLLA Princeton. The correspondence in the Otto Neugebauer Papers at SWLLA is mainly restricted to Neugebauer’s exchange of letters with E.S. Kennedy between 1950 and 1990. However these Papers also contain Neugebauer’s handwritten war diaries (Tagebuch 1917–1919) yet to be analysed. See several remarks in David Rowe’s article in the present collection.
- 12.
These archives are now deposited at the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin (ZLB) and will be referred to as SVA (Springer-Verlagsarchiv). They do not seem to contain much correspondence on the journals and series edited by Neugebauer.
- 13.
The file from the Göttingen University Archives will be used in section “Neugebauer’s Attitudes Toward Germany Before and After the War” at the end of this article for a discussion of Neugebauer’s compensation claims after the war.
- 14.
The episode is reported in the unpublished Danish biography of Harald Bohr, written by Kurt Ramskov for his Ph.D. (Ramskov 1995, 256). Compared to later reviews written by Neugebauer, the one on Peet’s edition is more in the nature of a report. However, it served Neugebauer as a starting point for his dissertation, which he defended 2 years later (Rashed and Pyenson 2012, 4).
- 15.
Support for mathematics during the 1920 came mostly from the “International Education Board,” which was one of several Foundations owned by the Rockefeller family.
- 16.
In the summer 1926 Neugebauer was on vacation in France with the two latter, writing regularly joint postcards to Bessel-Hagen. See the report by Alexandroff (Aleksandrov) (1976). Neugebauer and his friends also shared the habit of addressing each other with special nicknames. See the quote from the letter to Heinz Hopf, given below.
- 17.
As a 22 year old, Neugebauer gave an extensive talk (34 pages), entitled “Über die Erweiterung der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie durch Hermann Weyl” during two sessions of the physical seminar at Graz. A scan of the script is available from the website of SWLLA Princeton (http://cdm.itg.ias.edu/cdm/). David E. Rowe discusses Neugebauer’s training as a physicist in his contribution to the present volume.
- 18.
In a letter to Bessel-Hagen dated 16 April 1924 he opposed recent tendencies towards a “Studienrats-Wurstmaschine”, i.e. giving priority to the training of teachers. (NLBH Bonn, corr. Neugebauer, no.2) One finds further evidence in Bessel-Hagen’s correspondence with Neugebauer of the latter’s contempt for teachers who published on the history of mathematics without sufficient competence in the subject.
- 19.
On 21 April 1924 Neugebauer wrote to Bessel-Hagen: “The constant and constantly growing doubt about my mathematical talent tends to paralyze my energy.” (NLBH Bonn, corr. Neugebauer, no.3)
- 20.
One reads there: “Even Courant could not exercise any direct influence whatever on my work.” (Neugebauer 1963, 9).
- 21.
- 22.
Dehn 1928, 15, using a translation by Forman 1971, 54. Dehn’s former teacher, David Hilbert of Göttingen, had opposed such sentiments, in particular the alleged “ignorabimus” in mathematics, since his famous speech on mathematical problems in Paris 1900. He reiterated his argument with side-swipe at Spengler in his 1930 talk in Königsberg “Logic and the Knowledge of Nature” (Hilbert 1930).
- 23.
Dehn 1928, 18. My translation.
- 24.
Neugebauer 1928, 111. My translation from German.
- 25.
Neugebauer 1930, 4. My translation from German.
- 26.
A systematic study of ancient cultures by Neugebauer before he took up mathematics appears unlikely based on existing biographical accounts. He studied electrical engineering and physics in Graz (Austria) and Munich between 1919 and 1922. Then he continued with mathematics in Göttingen, while his interest in Babylonian mathematics apparently occurred only after his Ph.D. on Egyptian mathematics of 1926 (See Rowe’s essay in this volume, Swerdlow 1993 and Rashed and Pyenson 2012).
- 27.
Siegmund-Schultze 1993, 55–56, my translation from German.
- 28.
There was a rather apologetic letter written by Courant to Feigl, 31 October 1931, quoted in Siegmund-Schultze 1993, 56.
- 29.
On 10 December 1938 Neugebauer wrote to Veblen that “due to the original boycott [of the Zentralblatt] due to its fight against the ‘Fortschritte’ [i.e. the Jahrbuch] German reviewers never played an important role at the Zentralblatt.” (Siegmund-Schultze 1993, 107. My translation from German).
- 30.
This in a German letter by Neugebauer to T. Levi-Civita to this effect, dated 21 July 1932, and quoted in Siegmund-Schultze 1993, 107.
- 31.
Siegmund-Schultze 1994, 318. In my publication of 1994 the letter was misdated 3 March 1931. The letter is now also available at https://sites.google.com/site/neugebauerconference2010/web-exhibition-neugebauer-at-goettingen.
- 32.
See the discussion in Pyenson 1995, 266–267, based on the Tamarkin Papers at Brown University.
- 33.
This was the case for the review in Zentralblatt which appeared with the same wording in ZB 15 (1937), p. 53. In his letter to Bessel-Hagen, dated 1 November 1936, Neugebauer gave as excuse for his intervention that the paper was “boring”, because it was meant just as preparatory work for another publication. Therefore Bessel-Hagen should not bother reading it. NLBH Bonn, correspondence Neugebauer, no. 120.
- 34.
This discussion is in NLBH Bonn, correspondence Neugebauer, nos. 137: Brief 26.3.38 (ON to BH), 138: 30.3.1938 (BH to ON), and 139: 2.4.38 (ON to BH). It was about Neugebauer’s paper “Untersuchungen zur antiken Astronomie III.” (1938)
- 35.
Neugebauer married fellow student Grete Brück with whom he had two children, born in 1929 and 1932. There is evidence in Neugebauer’s correspondence with Bessel-Hagen, that he received much secretarial help from his wife.
- 36.
This changed later, see below.
- 37.
He was actually the only “Oberassistent” and as such indispensable, as Reid 1976, 129 reports from her conversations with Neugebauer and with other assistants such as Hans Lewy.
- 38.
RAC, Tislog 4 (1930) Göttingen, 12 January 1930, pp. 6/7, partly quoted already in Siegmund-Schultze 2001, p. 212.
- 39.
RF was originally hesitant with respect to support for applied mathematics and it required Courant’s power of persuasion to reach support for Cauer and Walther.
- 40.
A copy of this letter as well as of the following one by Toeplitz is in the Courant Papers at the New York University Archives (without call number).
- 41.
I omit here giving an English translation of the German text, which anyway is only understandable for readers with thorough familiarity with the politics of the time. The original German letter from 20 August 1930, kept in NLBH Bonn (correspondence Neugebauer, no. 79), reads in its final political part as follows:
“Falls in Thüringen wirklich die Sonne scheinen sollte, so besteht ja die Hoffnung, dass die dortige Sumpfflora verdorrt und so den Bauern die Sorge um eine zu gute Ernte erspart bleibt, die ja die Preise drücken könnte trotz aller Zollmassnahmen die uns vor den fremdländischen (nur mit Abscheu schreibe ich dieses welsche Wort) Produkten (Verzeihung: ‘Vielfachen’ wo wir doch Deutsche sind) abschliessen. Nieder mit dem Schmachfrieden von Fersaa-illes! Der liebe Gott scheint übrigens auch seine Markguthaben endgültig abgestossen zu haben, denn selbst die Stahlhelmpfarrer haben den Fuiksentscheid [sic; R.S.] nicht herbeiführen können. Oder steht er noch auf der Basis Seines [sic! added by ON; R.S.] ersten Bandes [apparently Old Testament; R.S.] und liebt nicht die Antisemiten. Weiss Gott? [sic for ‘Weiss Gott!”; R.S.] Amen Dein O.N.”
[In the margins: “Bitte als Frakturtypen zu lesen, ich habe nur eine welsche Schreibmaschine.”]
- 42.
Of course “internationalism” is not necessarily impartial by itself. There were other efforts in the 1930s to establish a German (Nazi-)-dominated ‘internationalism’: see Siegmund-Schultze 2002.
- 43.
This liberal outlook according to Neugebauer’s biographer Swerdlow 1993, 145. One has to add that Neugebauer’s ‘liberalism’ certainly did not tolerate political extremism of any persuasion, as revealed, for instance, in his letter to Bessel-Hagen of August 1930.
- 44.
For the discussion between philosophers and mathematicians at Göttingen during the 1920s, see Peckhaus 1990. One could possibly go a step further and examine to what extent Neugebauer’s Austrian background came into play. Note that there were other Austrians with a critical look at German “Lebensphilosophie,” for instance the applied mathematician Richard von Mises in Berlin, who was inspired by the Austrian Mach and had connections to the Vienna Circle. I do not believe, however, that Neugebauer and von Mises agreed on many points, considering the differences in their personalities and interests.
- 45.
- 46.
Schappacher 1987, 364. In a letter to the dean dated 29 April 1933, Neugebauer refused to talk about his “Gesinnung” (political attitude) because he did not want to give the impression of defending himself. University Archives Göttingen, Personalia 1929–1946, N-Z. The claim in Reid 1976, p. 146, according to which Neugebauer refused to sign the oath of loyalty to the new government, cannot be substantiated, as already remarked in Schappacher 1993, l.c.. Such a claim would be hardly compatible with the fact that Neugebauer was finally granted unpaid leave to Copenhagen with the formal option to return to Göttingen (see below).
- 47.
Schappacher 1987, 350. The text of the letter is published in Exodus Professorum, pp. 22–24.
- 48.
According to Neugebauer’s correspondence with Bessel-Hagen, NLBH Bonn.
- 49.
Siegmund-Schultze 2009, 162. In the book I incorrectly assumed that Neugebauer was already in Copenhagen at the time.
- 50.
This follows from Neugebauer’s letters to Helmut Hasse in the Manuscript Division of the Göttingen University Library. In his letter to Hasse dated 29 September 1934 Neugebauer states that he has been granted leave until the end of 1936. Cod Ms. Hasse, 1:1179, fol. 4.
- 51.
This is important to keep in mind in order to recognize the legitimacy of Neugebauer’s compensation claims after the war, to be discussed at the end of this paper.
- 52.
Brown University Archives, Richardson Papers, Box Correspondence 1933 (German-Jewish Situation), file Oswald Veblen.
- 53.
Siegmund-Schultze 1994, 321.
- 54.
Ibid.
- 55.
Basically quoted already in Pyenson 1995, 268 from SWLLA Princeton. Emphasis by Sarton.
- 56.
Siegmund-Schultze 2009, 307, quoted from SWLLA Princeton.
- 57.
SWLLA Princeton, Veblen, Box 32, folder 1933.
- 58.
Siegmund-Schultze 1994, 320–321. The German original is “Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz”.
- 59.
See Library of Congress Washington, Oswald Veblen Papers, cont. 13, folder Springer, for instance copy of the letter by Neugebauer to J.D. Tamarkin, 8 November 1933 and copy of Veblen’s letter to Springer, 24 November 1933 in support of Zentralblatt.
- 60.
See Otto Toeplitz in a letter to Courant, dated March 11, 1936 (Courant Papers New York). Toeplitz was concerned about being watched by Nazis in Oslo in his contacts with emigrants. Together with Christopher Hollings and Henrik Kragh Sørensen I am preparing a larger publication on the Oslo Congress of 1936 which will include Lietzmann’s politically colored report to the Nazi authorities.
- 61.
This was a review in “Die Naturwissenschaften” of Johannes Tropfke’s “History of Elementary Mathematics”. See Neugebauer 1933, 563.
- 62.
See Anon. 1936. I thank Henrik Kragh Sørensen (Århus) for pointing me to this newspaper article.
- 63.
The Italians were excluded due to sanctions in connection with the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, the Russians did not take part without giving reasons. However these reasons can be documented from political discussions and decisions at the time in Russia. See my forthcoming study on the Oslo Congress.
- 64.
Courant Papers NYC. Neugebauer was of course alluding to the two influential booklets on probability theory of Kolmogoroff’s and Khintchine’s which appeared 1933 and 1934 in German in Springer’s Ergebnisse (“Results”) series. Although written before 1933 the two short monographs officially appeared in the Nazi years. Courant’s old plans to win one of the two Russians for a more detailed text on probability theory for the “Grundlehren”-series (the “Yellow Series” as in the letter) were not realistic after the Stalinist interference into mathematics made communication difficult.
- 65.
Siegmund-Schultze 1994, 318/19.
Fig. 3 
(a–c) “The three title pages of Zentralblatt from 1938 and 1939 show the political changes which culminated in the Zentralblatt affair of October/November 1938. They reflect the withdrawal of P.S. Alexandroff in May 1938, the dismissal of T. Levi-Civita in October 1938, and the subsequent resignation of Neugebauer and all American, English and Danish members of the board.”
- 66.
ETH Zürich, Heinz Hopf Papers. Hs 621: 1029.
- 67.
The letter is quoted with some of the financial details also in Pyenson 1995, 270.
- 68.
Siegmund-Schultze 1993, 160, there quoted from the Oswald Veblen Papers, Library of Congress, and here translated from German.
- 69.
Siegmund-Schultze 2009, 87.
- 70.
Siegmund-Schultze 1994, 322.
- 71.
Siegmund-Schultze 1994, 318.
- 72.
On May 11, 1938 Neugebauer sent Courant an excerpt from the Austrian and now German newspaper “Grazer Tagespost,” 30 March 1938, with a “Declaration of university professor Dr. E. Schroedinger”. After leaving Nazi Germany in 1933, the famous physicist Schrödinger, Austrian and non-Jewish like Neugebauer, had accepted in 1936 a professorship in Austrian Graz, at Neugebauer’s alma mater between 1919 and 1921. Now in 1938 Schrödinger was apparently unwilling to move a second time. He “confessed shame to have missed the right way [apparently when opposing the occupation of Austria; R.S.] and promised obedience to the will of the Führer”. Neugebauer wrote dryly (translated from German): “Dear Courant, Attached Schrödinger’s latest publication. I would be grateful indeed if you sent it back after notice. I would not like to lose this document.” (Courant Papers NYC). One has to assume – and the tone of the letter is in accord with this – that Neugebauer would never forgive his compatriot Schrödinger, although the latter would try to interpret his declaration later as purely tactical and although he left Graz for Ireland soon anyway. The evaluation of Schrödinger’s publication in the “Grazer Tagespost” is still controversial in the biographical literature on Schrödinger. See Moore 1989.
- 73.
The last issue 10 of volume 17 (1938) of Zentralblatt and thus the title page is dated 7 May 1938. The last issue 10 of volume 18 (1938) of Zentralblatt is dated 8 October 1938 (433ff.). The first Italian “Royal Decree” including “Measures for the defence of race in fascist school” had been promulgated on 5 September 1938.
- 74.
The translation follows Swerdlow 1993, 149–150. Since this important document has apparently not yet been published in German, I give here the original wording. The postcard can be found, for instance, in the Heinz Hopf Papers, ETH Zürich, Hs 621: 1031, and in the Helmut Hasse papers in Göttingen:
“København Ø
Blegdamsvej 15
November 1938
Da einer der Herausgeber des Zentralblattes für Mathematik gestrichen worden ist, ohne ihm, mir oder den anderen Herausgebern Mitteilung zu machen, da ferner von mir verlangt wurde, bei der Verteilung der Referate andere als rein sachliche Gesichtspunkte zu berücksichtigen, habe ich die Redaktion des Zentralblattes niedergelegt. Allen meinen Mitarbeitern habe ich für die jahrelange ausgezeichnete Tätigkeit wärmstens zu danken und vor allem für das Verständnis, mit dem sie sich in die nicht immer bequemen Anforderungen gefügt haben, die an sie gestellt werden mussten.
O. Neugebauer”
- 75.
SVA, Abteilung C, no. 778 (Neugebauer).
- 76.
Now in Cod Ms. Hasse, 1:1179, fol. 12, in the Manuscript Division of the Göttingen University Library
- 77.
NLBH Bonn, correspondence Neugebauer, no. 157, my translation from German. Bessel-Hagen was not able to completely follow Neugebauer’s suggestion, although he tried repeatedly to excuse himself vis-à-vis the new German editors E. Ullrich and H. Geppert, claiming to be over-worked. However, he continued to publish in Zentralblatt for instance reviews of Neugebauer’s works.
- 78.
Siegmund-Schultze 1993, 164. The letter is written in English in the original.
- 79.
SVA, Abteilung C, no. 778 (Neugebauer).
- 80.
Siegmund-Schultze 2009, 163–164.
- 81.
In a review of O. Becker and J.E. Hofmann: Geschichte der Mathematik, Bonn 1951, Neugebauer criticized philosophical prejudices and the failure to mention O. Toeplitz’s historical book “Entwicklung der Infinitesimalrechnung” (1949). He then follows this with a grotesque remark: “Only as a minor detail of bibliographical accuracy I wish to state that I was not the sole editor of the Quellen und Studien (p. 323): I share the honor of having founded this series with J. Stenzel and O. Toeplitz and the pleasure of having exploded it with O. Becker.” (Neugebauer 1953, 366–367).
- 82.
- 83.
Siegmund-Schultze 1994, 313.
- 84.
Reingold 1981, 332.
- 85.
The letter is quoted in Pyenson 1995, 271.
- 86.
- 87.
This is about the Rockefeller sponsored chemical laboratory of Leopold Ružička (1887–1976) in Zürich, who would receive the Nobel prize that same year 1939.
- 88.
RAC, Weaver diary 1939, vol. 6, p. 39.
- 89.
Archibald sent a copy to Birkhoff, which is now in the Birkhoff Papers at Harvard University Archives 4213.2.2 box 1, file 1936.
- 90.
Neugebauer on his part appreciated for instance Archibald’s “great bibliography of oriental mathematics,” a spare copy of which he sent with these words to Bessel-Hagen in 1930 (NLBH Bonn, no.44, 13 June 1930).
- 91.
The interests of the Foundation would, of course, change once again when war-preparedness set in in 1940.
- 92.
Neugebauer wrote to Courant 21 May 1938 that Archibald had told him confidentially about imminent support from the RF, in particular for his assistant Olaf Schmidt.
- 93.
The letter quoted is in copy in the Harvard University Archives, G.D. Birkhoff Papers 4213.4.5. Box 1, file personal 1938/39. I have not found a copy of Archibald’s letter.
- 94.
NLBH Bonn, Neugebauer to Bessel-Hagen, 16 January 1939, Neugebauer Correspondence, no, 160. Neugebauer wrote about the promising library conditions and to be allowed to bring his “excellent student Olaf Schmidt.”
- 95.
Letter Neugebauer to Birkhoff, 30 March, 1939, Harvard University Archives, G.D. Birkhoff Papers 4213.2, box 13, file J-N. I thank June Barrow-Green (London) for providing a copy of Neugebauer’s letter, which is already written with a letter head showing his affiliation with Brown University.
- 96.
See previous note.
- 97.
Courant Papers NYC.
- 98.
C.R. Adams to G.D. Birkhoff, February 18, 1939, Birkhoff Papers, Harvard University Archives, Box 2, 4213.4.5. (correspondence and talks 1937–1943). The protocol of the interview with Neugebauer is there attached in copy.
- 99.
In late 1944, after the death of George D. Birkhoff, Neugebauer did not comply with a wish of Birkhoff’s son, the mathematician Garrett Birkhoff, to give G.D. Birkhoff’s work on the general theory of relativity in flat space to Harry Bateman for review. Instead, a review by Hermann Weyl appeared in Mathematical Reviews (MR0008365), that was quite critical. (Weyl was very strongly opposed to GDB’s theory, about which they corresponded. One should assume that ON was well aware that Weyl felt this approach threw away Einstein’s key insight, his equivalence principle linking gravitational and inertial effects. The political overtones here do indeed seem highly significant. I owe this remark to David Rowe). The incident is documented in the papers of Oswald Veblen, who originally supported Garrett Birkhoff’s request (Library of Congress, Veblen Papers, General Correspondence, Container 2, folder Birkhoff, George D. 1929–47.)
- 100.
With respect to the foundation of the “Quarterly of Applied mathematics”, edited at Brown University from 1943, deliberate comparisons were made with Richard von Mises’ “Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik” (from 1921) in Berlin. See Siegmund-Schultze 2009.
- 101.
These efforts are also documented in letters written by Courant in February 1939 and by G. Pólya in May 1939. Cf. Siegmund-Schultze 2009, 96–97. Neugebauer’s postcard from April 1939, to be mentioned below, fits exactly into this time frame.
- 102.
NLBH Bonn, correspondence Neugebauer, no. 164. My translation is of the second part. There can be no doubt that the “transformation of the theory of sets” in the postcard refers to Hausdorff’s emigration. Bessel-Hagen’s efforts for his much older friend Hausdorff are documented elsewhere in his Nachlass. The word “transformation” as a pseudo-mathematical and secret code-word for “emigration” was well known to Neugebauer not least from Courant’s letter to him in September 1933, which was quoted above.
- 103.
- 104.
Courant Papers, NYC. Translation from German.
- 105.
Vannevar Bush, the engineer and inventor of an analogue computer, the ‘differential analyser’, was then president of the Carnegie Corporation and a very influential American science organizer in the years to come. He became head of the war organization for research OSRD. According to Sarton, Bush showed open contempt for the history of science. Pyenson 1995, 281.
- 106.
Neugebauer’s letter to Courant, 26 December 1939. Courant Papers New York, Translation from German.
- 107.
See also Neugebauer’s postcard to Bessel-Hagen, dated 5 April 1939 and quoted above.
- 108.
Brown University Archives, H.M. Wriston, President, folder ‘History of Math.’
- 109.
This initiative failed, since, according to Swerdlow 1993, 151, the Corporation refused to give money. I assume this happened under the influence of V. Bush (see above).
- 110.
“Political” in a broader sense which in Grell’s case seems to have included discrimination against “deviant” sexual orientation.
- 111.
ETH Zürich, Heinz Hopf Papers, H 621: 1013. My translation from German.
- 112.
Quoted in Siegmund-Schultze 2009, 184.
- 113.
See Siegmund-Schultze 2011.
- 114.
NLBH Bonn, correspondence Neugebauer, no. 179; 25 October 1940. Translation from German.
- 115.
Neugebauer to H. Hopf 15 August 1945, ETH Zürich, Hopf Papers, Hs 621: 1041. Original English.
- 116.
9 August 1945, ETH Zürich, B.L. van der Waerden Papers, Hs 652: 11496. This hope of Neugebauer’s would not be fulfilled as the future revival of Zentralblatt would show.
- 117.
Swerdlow 1993, 155. Swerdlow does not reveal the name of the mathematician; one may conjecture this was van der Waerden or perhaps F. Rellich.
- 118.
Courant Papers NYC.
- 119.
University Archives Göttingen, Universitätskuratorium, Durchführung des Gesetzes zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums IX 83, II: Teil (1935–1950), fol. 234–238.
- 120.
University Archives Göttingen, Universitätskuratorium Göttingen K XVI.IV, Ad 194 (O.Neugebauer). “Wiedergutmachungsbescheid”, Niedersächsischer Kultusminister, Hannover 4. Juli 1957. The same personal file shows that Neugebauer in July 1962 received 1093 Deutsche Mark compensation per month.
- 121.
Swerdlow 1993, 141. A related and more detailed analysis of the conflict of the mathematician and the cultural historian in Neugebauer, and of his relation to George Sarton, is given by David Rowe in the present volume, also partly based on testimony by Swerdlow.
- 122.
Rosenfeld 1950.
- 123.
Neugebauer to M. Pihl, 17 October 1950, Niels Bohr Archives Copenhagen, Mogens Pihl Papers,”Otto Neugebauer, corr re., 1950.” Thanks go to Felicity Pors (Copenhagen) for providing a copy.
- 124.
Many liberal minded immigrants to the U.S., among them physicists and mathematicians like J. Franck, H. Lewy, H. Weyl, R. von Mises, felt uneasy about the ideological climate in the U.S. after WWII, with the maintenance of secrecy regulations, increasing anti-Communist hysteria, and the threat of the atomic bomb. Their new experiences often collided with their feelings of gratitude to the host country. Richard von Mises, for one, was warning against the “extreme” ideologies of the “two strongest political powers” who threatened each other with “physical annihilation”. (Mises 1951, 14/15).
- 125.
An interesting comparison between Sarton and Neugebauer with respect to their professional interests, attitudes, and emotions is contained in Pyenson 1995.
- 126.
Pyenson 1995, 282.
- 127.
Neugebauer 1956. The “Notice of ingratitude” is more completely quoted and analyzed in David Rowe’s article in this volume.
- 128.
“WW questions N. concerning George Sarton and also concerning [I.B.] Cohen. N. has met Cohen and has a superficial impression that he is deeply interested in the history of science and curious about it, but he has no basis for judging C.’s real ability. N. thinks very highly indeed of S., and thinks he is worth any support.” (RAC, Weaver diary 1941, vol. 7, p. 60)
- 129.
Neugebauer 1957, vii/viii, from the preface to the first edition of 1951.
- 130.
However, Neugebauer in his correspondence with Bessel-Hagen refers repeatedly to “the Mutter” (the mother) in Graz, whose demise in 1938 he mourns. The “Mutter” may have been his aunt or step-mother. David Rowe reminded me that Neugebauer dedicated his book “Vorgriechische Mathematik” (1934) to her (“der Mutter gewidmet”). (Neugebauer 1934, p. v).
- 131.
See Neugebauer’s war diaries at SWLLA Princeton as mentioned above, p. 3, 6 October 1919.
- 132.
As described by Swerdlow, which is, for the full picture, in need of further investigation.
- 133.
“Sinn und Methode einer geschichtlichen Darstellung: die Tatsachen als solche so sauber als möglich herauszuarbeiten, dann aber sie so zu lebendigen Gebilden auszugestalten, dass wir die geschichtlichen Prozesse als organisch möglich empfinden.” The 56 page handwritten script is available at the website of SWLLA Princeton (http://cdm.itg.ias.edu/cdm/). I do not find this quote in Neugebauer’s book with the same title (Neugebauer 1934); he may have found it too personal for publication.
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Acknowledgment
I am very grateful to David Rowe, who not only copy-edited my paper for the English language but gave numerous advice for sharpening its focus as well. All archives used, which are mentioned in section “Unpublished Sources Used”, are thanked for allowing to quote from their sources.
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Siegmund-Schultze, R. (2016). “Not in Possession of Any Weltanschauung”: Otto Neugebauer’s Flight from Nazi Germany and His Search for Objectivity in Mathematics, in Reviewing, and in History. In: Jones, A., Proust, C., Steele, J. (eds) A Mathematician's Journeys. Archimedes, vol 45. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25865-2_2
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