Bartel Leendert van der Waerden made major contributions to algebraic
geometry, abstract algebra, quantum mechanics, and other fields. He
liberally published on the history of mathematics. His 2-volume work
Modern Algebra is one of the most influential and popular mathematical
books ever written. It is therefore surprising that no monograph has
been dedicated to his life and work. Van der Waerden's record is
complex. In attempting to understand his life, the author assembled
thousands of documents from numerous archives in Germany, the
Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States which revealed
fascinating and often surprising new information about van der Waerden.
Soifer traces Van der Waerden's early years in a family of great Dutch
public servants, his life as professor in Leipzig during the entire Nazi
period, and his personal and professional friendship with one of the
great physicists Werner Heisenberg. We encounter heroes and villains and
a much more numerous group in between these two extremes. One of them is
the subject of this book.
Soifer's journey through a long list of archives, combined with an
intensive correspondence, had uncovered numerous details of Van der
Waerden's German intermezzo that raised serious questions and
reproaches.
*Dirk van Dalen (*Philosophy, Utrecht University)
Professor Soifer's book implicates the anthropologists' and culture
historians' core interest in the evolution of culture and in the
progress of human evolution itself on this small contested planet.
*James W. Fernandez (*Anthropology, University of Chicago)
The book is fascinating. Professor Soifer has done a great service to
the discipline of history, as well as deepening our understanding of the
20th century.
*Peter D. Johnson, Jr. (*Mathematics, Auburn University)
This book is an important contribution to the history of the twentieth
century, and reads like a novel with an ever-fascinating cast of
characters.
*Harold W. Kuhn (*Mathematics, Princeton University)
This is a most impressive and important book. It is written in an
engaging, very personal style and challenges the reader's ability of
moral and historical judgment. While it is not always written in the
style of 'objective' professional historiography, it satisfies very high
standards of scholarly documentation. Indeed the book contains a wealth
of source material that allows the reader to form a highly detailed
picture of the events and personalities discussed in the book. As an
exemplar of historical writing in a broader sense it can compete with
any other historical book.
*Moritz Epple (*History of Mathematics, Frankfurt University)
