Georg Cantor made outstanding achievements in the field of mathematics. He introduced set theory, the fundamental of Mathematics. His full name is Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor. Cantor suffered from mental illness and was at the mental institution during the last years of his life.
Early Life and Education of Georg Cantor
Georg Cantor was born on 3rd March, 1845 in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. He belonged to a Danish family where his mother was a Roman Catholic and father, a Jewish merchant. Initially he was taught at home by a private tutor. He was sent to a primary school. After staying in Russia for 11 long years, he moved to Germany with his family and spent his entire life in the city of Frankfurt.
He studied at the Zürich University in 1862. Then he went to the Berlin University to study Philosophy, Mathematics and Physics. He was guided by great Mathematicians like Weierstrass and Kronecker. He received his doctoral degree in the year 1867. He served the University of Halle as an unpaid lecturer and finally as an assistant professor.
Works of Georg Cantor
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Georg Cantor published his set theory in 1874. He made an extensive study of the concept of sets and infinite sets. He proved that the algebraic numbers can be counted while the real numbers cannot. For his unique findings he was appointed as a permanent professor in the year 1879. Among his critics, Leopold Kronecker suppressed Cantor greatly. He tried to stop Cantor's work from being published. He tried to denigrate his works and ideas in front of his pupils and obstructed in Canton's career. However Cantor had supporters like Richard Dedekind, Karl Weierstrass and Mittag-Leffler who in turn attacked the ideas of Kronecker.
Last Years of Georg Cantor
Georg Cantor was deprived of his due honor and that made him fall sick. Unable to cope up with the situation, he was attacked with a nervous breakdown several times. He was sent to a mental institution where he spent several years of his life.
During his ailment, the Royal Society of London awarded him with a medal after his theory started gaining popularity. In the year of 1904, he was made London Mathematical society's member. He passed away in the Halle mental institution in the year 1918.
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