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| August Möbius | |
 August Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868)
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| Born | November 17, 1790 Schulpforta, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany |
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| Died | September 26, 1868 Leipzig |
| Residence | Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Mathematician |
| Institutions | University of Leipzig |
| Alma mater | University of Leipzig University of Göttingen University of Halle |
| Doctoral advisor | Johann Pfaff |
| Other academic advisors | Carl Friedrich Gauss Karl Mollweide |
| Doctoral students | Otto Wilhelm Fiedler |
| Other notable students | Hermann Hankel |
| Known for | Möbius strip Möbius transformations Möbius transform Möbius function Möbius inversion formula Möbius–Kantor graph |
August Ferdinand Möbius (November 17, 1790 - September 26, 1868, (pronounced [ˈmøbiʊs]) was a German mathematician and theoretical astronomer. He was born in Schulpforta, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany and died in Leipzig.
He is best known for his discovery of the Möbius strip, a non-orientable two-dimensional surface with only one side when embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space. It was independently discovered by Johann Benedict Listing around the same time. Möbius was the first to introduce homogeneous coordinates into projective geometry. Möbius transformations, important in projective geometry, are not to be confused with the Möbius transform of number theory, which also bears his name. His interest was also in number theory, and the important Möbius function μ(n) and the Möbius inversion formula are named after him.
Möbius studied under Carl Friedrich Gauss and Johann Pfaff.
Collected works
- Gesammelte werke Erster band (v. 1) (Leipzig : S. Hirzel, 1885)
- Gesammelte werke Zweiter band (v. 2) (Leipzig : S. Hirzel, 1885)
- Gesammelte werke Dritter band (v. 3) (Leipzig : S. Hirzel, 1885)
- Gesammelte werke Vierter band (v. 4) (Leipzig : S. Hirzel, 1885)
Trivia
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (November 2007) |
- Möbius was a descendant of Martin Luther by way of his mother.
- The character of Johann Wilhelm Möbius—a particular scientist who tries to evade his own inventions by pretending to be insane—in Dürrenmatt's satiric drama The Physicists is named after him.
- The asteroid 28516 Möbius is also named after him.
- In StarCraft, the upgraded energy reactor of the Terran Ghost is called "Moebius Reactor"
- There is a tribute to him in Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, in the form on the deathmatch map dm_mobius (which has since spawned various spin-offs such as in the Unreal Tournament series).
- Möbius also plays a pivotal part in Brian Lumley's Necroscope book series.
- A beautiful visualization of Möbius Transformations, created by mathematicians at the University of Minnesota is viewable at [1]
External links
- O'Connor, John J. & Robertson, Edmund F., "August Ferdinand Möbius", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- Möbius math genealogy
