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929] ALEXANDER ZIWETIN MEMORIAM 259

A L E X A N D E R Z I W E T I N M E M O R I A MIn the deat h on N ov em be r 18, 1928, of Ale xan der Ziwet , Professor

Emer i tu s o f M a thema t i c s i n t he Co l l ege o f Eng inee r ing o f t he Un ive r s i t yof Michigan, th is Socie ty los t one of i t s most d is t inguished scholars .

P ro fe s so r Z iwe t was bo rn in Bres l au , Ge rm an y , F eb ru a ry 8 , 1853 , ofa Po l ish f a the r and a G erm an m oth e r . H i s f a the r was a l anded p ropr i e to r ,and h i s ea r ly educa t ion wa s a t hom e un de r p r iv a t e t u to r s . A t t he age oftwe lv e he en t e re d the gym nas ium a t Glogau , Germ an S i l es ia , and a f t e rf ive yea r s a t t en da nc e was g ra du a te d in 1870 . Hi s f a the r hav ing d i ed inthe m ean t im e , he j o ined h i s m oth e r and s i s t e r s who had gone to W arsaw ,and the r e he l ea rned Po l i sh and R uss i an and en t e red the Un ive r s i t y . In1873 he t ransfer red to the Univers i ty of Moscow, which he le f t in 1874 tos t ud y engine er ing in G er m an y. Af ter som e t im e in an arch i tec t s off ice, heen te red the Po ly t echn ic Schoo l a t Kar l s ruhe , Baden , and in 1880 wasgra du a te d a s a c ivi l eng inee r . H e had se rved mean whi l e t he r equ i r ed yea rin th e ar m y, an d ha d passe d h is ex am ina t ion for a com miss ion as a l ieut enan t i n t he r e se rve a r t i l l e ry co rps .

In the fa l l of 1880 he came to Det ro i t , and, a f te r about two years inthe Lake Survey and f ive yea r s i n t he comput ing d iv i s ion o f t he Un i t edS ta t e s Coa s t and G eode t i c Survey , he was app o in t e d an in s t ruc to r inm a th em a t i c s a t t he Un ive r s i t y of M ich igan . Af t e r s eve ra l p rom ot ions inrank , he became p ro fe s so r o f ma thema t i c s and head o f t he Depa r tmen t o fM ath em a t i c s i n t he Co l l ege of Eng inee r ing . H e was a l so head of t heDepa r tmen t o f M odern Languages i n t he Co l l ege o f Eng inee r ing fo r s eve ra lyea r s . H e had a com ma nd o f s even mode rn l anguages . He r e t i r ed in 1925,becom ing Pro fe s so r Em er i tu s of M a th em a t i c s . T he Un ive r s i t y confe r r edon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science in 1927.

Pro fe s so r Z iwe t has been p rominen t ly connec ted wi th t he deve lopmen tof m a th em a t i c s i n t h e Un i t ed S t a t e s . H e was a me mb er of t he ed i to r i a lboard of th is Bul le t in f rom 1892 to 1920, and served as v ice-pres ident oft h e A m e r i c a n M a t h e m a t i c a l S o c i e ty d u r i n g 1 9 0 3 . H i s n u m e r o u s b o o k r e v i ews showed no t on ly a b road knowledge o f ma thema t i c s , bu t a l so a keencr i t ica l sense . H e helped in th e es t ab l i sh m en t of th e Chic ago sec t ion of th eSocie ty in 1897, was a member of i t s f i r s t program commit tee , and gave i th i s unqua l i f i ed suppor t f rom the beg inn ing by r egu la r a t t endance and d i s cus s ion . H e took a keen in t e r e s t in t he M a th em a t i c a l Co ngres s a t C h icago ,and in the f i r s t col loquium of the Socie ty a t Evans ton, in the la t te r to the ext en t o f wr i t i ng up fo r pub l i ca t ion by the Soc ie ty t he l ec tu re s de l ive red byKle in a t t ha t t im e . H e wa s v i ce -p re s iden t and cha i rm an of Sec t ion A of t h eAm er i can Assoc ia t ion for t h e A dva nce m en t of Sc i ence du r ing 1905 . Hi sr e t i r i ng addres s on The relation of mechanics to physics wa s pub l i shed inSc ience , J a nu a r y 12 th , 1906 . H e was al so a me m ber of t h e execu t ive counc i lwh ich o rgan ized the M a thema t i ca l Assoc i a t ion o f Amer i ca i n 1916 .

To h i s co l l eagues and to s e r ious s tu de n t s P ro fe s so r Z iwe t gave m os t

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2 6 0 ALEXA NDER ZIWET IN MEMOR IAM [Mar.-Apr.,g e n e r o u s l y of his t i m e and t h o u g h t . His fami l i a r i t y wi th the l i t e r a tu reo f m a t h e m a t i c s was am az ing , cove r ing long pe r iods of t i m e and j o u r n a l sin half a dozen l anguages . He was one of the f ounde r s of the Un ive r s i t yo f M i c h i g a n M a t h e m a t i c a l C l u b . Form a n y y e a r sthec lub met at h i s room s.T o its a c t i v i t i e s , he d e v o t e d m u c h t i m e and a t t e n t i o n . He wasa l so a c t iv ei n p r o m o t i n g the g ene ra l s cho la r ly i n t e r e s t s of the Un ive r s i t y , be ing oneof the i n f luen t i a l me m ber s of the U n i v e r s i t y of M ich igan Re sea rch Clu b .

Professor Ziwet le f t a l i b r a r y of ove r 5000 vo lumes wh ich he p r e sen tedt o the U n i v e r s i t y of M i c h i g a n . In the co l l ec t ion th e re w ere abou t 400v o l u m e s on the h i s t o r y of mechan ic s , i nc lud ing many no tab le workssuch as a first edition of N e w t o n s Principia. The l i b r a ry ow es much toh im for c o n s t a n t a t t e n t i o n o v e r a long per iod of ye ars . Professor Z iwe t sl i b ra ry , t oge the r wi th P ro fe s so r B em an s , wh ich was a l so la rg e ,and whichw a s p r e s e n t e dto theU n i v e r s i t y at thet i m e of P ro fe s so r Bem an s dea th , arev a l u a b l e a d d i t i o n sto theM a t h e m a t i c a l L i b r a r y of the U n i v e r s i t y .

The fo l lowing is a l is tof P ro fe s so r Z iw e t s p ub l i ca t ion s .An Elementary Treatise on Theoretical Mechanics M a c m i l l a n , 1894,

591pp.Elements of Theoretical Mechanics M acmi l l an , 1904 ,494 pp.Introduction to Analytical Mechanics (wi th P. F i e ld ) , M acm i l l an ,

1 9 1 2 , 3 7 8pp.Analytic Geometry and Principles of Algebra (wi th L. A. H o p k i n s ) ,M acmi l l an , 1913 ,369 pp.Analytic Geometry (wi th L. A. H o p k i n s ) , M a c m i l l a n , 1916, 280 pp .Note on thecom position of finite rotations about parallel axes th is Bul le t in ,

vo l .14 (1908) ,pp.208 -212 .A note on plane kinematics (wi th P. F i e l d ) , A m e r i c a n M a t h e m a t i c a l

M o n t h l y ,vol. 21 (1914) , pp. 105 -113 .The accelerations of thepoints of a rigid body (wi th P. F i e ld ) , Am er i can

M a t h e m a t i c a l M o n t h l y ,vol. 23 (1916) ,pp . 3 7 1 - 3 8 1 .H i s t r a n s l a t i o n sare as follows.Somoff, Theoretische Mechanik ( t r ans l a t e d f rom Russ i an in to Ge rm an) .V o l u m e I,Kinematics T e u b n e r , 1 8 7 9 ; V o l u m e II, Statics 1879.P . D u h e m , Emile Mathieu His Life and Works t h i s Bu l l e t i n , 1),

vo l . 1 (1891) ,pp . 156 -168 .F . K l e in , Riemann and his significance for the development of modern

mathematics t h i s Bu l l e t i n , 2), vol. 1 (1894) , pp . 165 -180 .V. Schlegel ,On theproblem ofthe minimum sum of the distances of a point

from given points t h i s Bu l l e t i n , 2), vol. 1(1894) ,pp.3 3 - 5 2 .F . K l e in , Evanston Colloquium Lectures 1894. P u b l i s h e d by Amer i can

M a t h e m a t i c a l S o c i e t y . R e p o r t e d by A. Z iwet .He a l so pub l i shed numerous book r ev i ews in t h i s Bu l l e t i n .T H E U N I V E R S I T Y OF M I C H I G A N

L. C. K A R P I N S K IJ. W. B R A D S H A WT. H . HlLDEBRANDlP E T E R F I E L D