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Exhibition Opening with Keynote Lecture

Transcending Tradition: Jewish Mathematicians in German-Speaking Academic Culture

Press Release, Tue 12 Jul 2016

From July 17 to August 14, 2016

On Sunday, July 17, in conjunction with the 7th European Congress of Mathematics, the Jewish Museum Berlin will celebrate the opening of the special exhibition "Transcending Tradition: Jewish Mathematicians in German-Speaking Academic Culture". The exhibition has been traveling since 2011 in Israel, the United States, Australia, and Germany. The Jewish Museum Berlin will be the final venue to host this international exhibition.

Contact

Press office
T +49 (0)30 259 93 419
presse@jmberlin.de

Address

Jewish Museum Berlin Foundation
Lindenstraße 9–14
10969 Berlin

The special exhibition "Transcending Tradition" presents the life and works of Jewish mathematicians in Germany, from the time of Jewish emancipation in the nineteenth century to their persecution during the Nazi regime. Based on new historical research and many heretofore unpublished documents, it depicts the activities of Jewish mathematicians at German-speaking universities and their contribution to the culture of the German-speaking world of mathematics. The exhibition highlights the life and works of famous mathematicians such as Emmy Noether, Richard Courant, Felix Hausdorff, Max Dehn, Otto Blumenthal, Richard von Mises, and John von Neumann. "While it was possible for the Nazis to threaten the lives of Jewish mathema-ticians, their mathematical ideas and writings have proven to be indestructible. Their impact can be felt in every area of mathematics today," according to Moritz Epple, professor of the history of science at the History Department of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and exhibition project director.

The Program of the Exhibition Opening:

Keynote Lecture
4:00 pm

Welcome: Martin Grötschel, President of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
Keynote lecture: Liba Taub, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge: "Mathematics and Culture in Ancient Greece: Poetry, Pythagoreanism, and Ancient Jewish Accounts of the Development of Philosophy"

Opening of the Exhibition
5:00 pm

Welcome: Peter Schäfer, Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, and Volker Mehrmann, Speaker of the MATHEON Research Center and Chair of the 7ECM Organizing Committee
Introduction to the exhibition: Moritz Epple, Exhibition Project Director
This will be followed by a reception and the opening of the exhibition.

An exhibition of the History Department of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main under the direction of Prof. Moritz Epple in cooperation with the Technical University of Berlin and the Jewish Museum Berlin.

This event will be conducted in English.
Please allow enough time for the security check.

The 7th European Congress of Mathematics

Hosting the 7th European Congress of Mathematics from July 18 to 22, 2016, is the Technical University of Berlin. More than 1000 mathematicians from Europe and throughout the world are expected to attend this major mathematics congress, which takes place every four years. For more information go to: www.7ecm.de.

Press early viewing: Friday 11 am with the curator Ruti Ungar (please register in advance)
Press accreditation: Tel. +49 (0)30 259 93 419 or presse@jmberlin.de
Press photos for reporting (listing credits and in compliance with copyright details) are available for download at: Photo download
An exhibition catalog is available from Springer Publishers. For further information on the exhibition go to: www.gj-math.de.

Dates: 17 July - 14 August 2016
Location: Old Building, second level, Great Hall
Hours: daily from 10 am - 8 pm, Mondays till 10 pm
Admission: with a ticket to the museum (8 euros, reduced 3 euros)

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