An academic genealogy involves tracing a scholar backwards through doctoral thesis advisors, so one is the “grandchild” of one's advisor’s advisor. The identification of an advisor and the definition of a doctoral work is not always clear, and there have been different academic arrangements in historical times, including degrees that did not require a thesis at all, and habilitation by a second dissertation. Also, there may be multiple advisors. Nevertheless, it’s often possible to form a reasonable line and “family tree”, and at least the effort has entertainment value.
There are two main projects of interest tracing these relationships. The older one is the Mathematics Genealogy Project (MGP), and the newer is the more broad Academic Tree (AT), which relies on the MGP. Both have many cases of multiple advisors, sometimes due to there being co-advisors, but sometimes because they count multiple theses. The AT appears to count more relationships, such as research assistant, and at any rate has a much larger network. Neither has what I would consider adequate sourcing for its claims. Explanations about the inclusion or exclusion of connections in borderline cases would be helpful.
The MGP project has a line tracing me back as far as 52 generations to 11th-century Zoroastrian scholar Bahmanyar, although I have doubts about much of this line, including how meaningful and credible these early relationships are.
My ascent
The following table summarizes a line of ascent from me that I have judged as best. There are tricky choices along the way, which are elaborated in the next section; and one place where two co-advisors are grouped. Images which may be encumbered by copyright are, in addition to being quite shrunken, linked to their source per fair use.
| Scholar | Thesis title in English | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
G. Huntington | Towards an efficient decision procedure for the existential theory of the reals |
2008 |
|
B. Fitelson | 2001 | |
|
M. Forster | Probabilistic Causality and the Foundations of Modern Science |
1984 |
|
J. Bub | 1966 | |
|
D. Bohm | (Classified work on subatomic particles.) |
1943 |
|
J. R. Oppenheimer | 1927 | |
|
M. Born | 1906 | |
|
C. Runge | About the curvature, torsion, and geodetic curvature of the curves drawn on a surface |
1880 |
|
K. Weierstrass | 1854 | |
|
F. Richelot | 1831 | |
|
C. Jacobi | 1825 | |
|
E. Dirksen | 1820 | |
|
B. F. Thibaut | 1796 | |
|
{
|
J. T. Mayer | 1773 | |
|
G. C. Lichtenberg | (Completed his studies without writing a thesis.) |
1767 |
|
A. G. Kästner | 1739 | |
|
C. A. Hausen | On cutting and marking the body without staining, in accordance with Leviticus 19:28 |
1713 |
|
J. Wichmannshausen | A moral disputation on divorces according to the law of nature |
1685 |
|
O. Mencke | 1666 | |
|
B. Schwendendörffer | 1656 | |
|
G. Schwendendörffer | 1626 | |
|
F. Romanus | Subsequent conclusions on delay of both creditors and debtors |
1583 |
Details
My thesis “Towards an efficient decision procedure for the existential theory of the reals” was filed 2008-10-31, to fulfill a PhD in Logic and the Methodology of Science, University of California, Berkeley. My doctoral advisor was…
Branden Fitelson
Age: 56y 227dBranden Eric Fitelson⟮1⟯ (* 1969-08-17)⟮2⟯ is a philosophy professor at Northeastern University, since 2016, and was my dissertation advisor. He formerly taught at several other schools, including my alma mater UC Berkeley. Fitelson received a PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in Spring 2001, with dissertation “Studies in Bayesian Confirmation Theory”, and supervisor…
Malcolm Forster
Age: 72ý 104dMalcolm Richard Forster (* 1953-12-18) was a professor of philosophy at University of Wisconsin, Madison, having taught there from 1987 to 2017⟮3⟯, and since then has taught at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.⟮4⟯ He seems to be originally from New Zealand. Forster received a PhD from the University of Western Ontario in 1984, with dissertation “Probabilistic Causality and the Foundations of Modern Science”, and supervisor…
Jeffrey Bub
Age: 83ý 107dJeffrey Bub⟮5⟯ (* 1942-12-15) is a retired professor at the University of Maryland, which he joined in 1986.⟮6⟯ Hailing from South Africa, where he completed his undergraduate work, he got his PhD in Mathematics and physics at the University of London. His 1966 dissertation was “The problem of measurement in quantum mechanics”, supervised by…
David Bohm
David Joseph Bohm (1917-12-20 – 1992-10-27) was a prominent quantum physicist. Born in America, he later moved to Brazil, where he got citizenship, and then to England, where he then got British citizenship, and where he died.
His graduate work was done at the University of California, Berkeley, like me. However, his work was considered relevant to the Manhattan Project and immediately classified, so, lacking clearance, he was not allowed to write his own thesis. In 1943, however, he received his PhD when his work was certified as sufficient by his doctoral advisor…
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1904-04-22 – 1967-02-18) was an American physicist famous for his work on the Manhattan Project, and later opposition to nuclear weapons. The AT lists him with several parents⟮7⟯, unlike any of the above, apparently because of other relationships such as post-doctoral advisors, but in terms of doctoral advisor there seems no ambiguity. Oppenheimer studied in Europe, getting his PhD from the University of Göttingen in 1927 with his thesis “Zur Quantentheorie kontinuierlicher Spektren” (“On the quantum theory of continuous spectra”) supervised by…
Max Born
Max Born (1882-12-11 – 1970-01-05) was a prominent German-British mathematician and physicist. He was born in Breslau (now part of Poland), later became a citizen of England, and retired back in Germany, where he died. He is the grandfather of singer Olivia Newton-John.
The AT lists among other relationships David Hilbert as a “grad student” parent⟮8⟯, but it appears that his 1906 University of Göttingen dissertation “Untersuchungen über die stabilität der elastischen Linie in Ebene und Raum, unter verschiedenen Grenzbedingungen” (“Investigations on the stability of the elastic line in plane and space, under different boundary conditions”) was supervised only by…
Carl Runge
Carl David Tolmé Runge (1856-08-30 – 1927-01-03) was a mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist, born in Germany to a German father and English mother.
Both the MGP and AT have both Karl Weierstrass and Ernst Kummer as parents. As of 2023-09-05, MGP has Runge having 2655 descendants; by contrast, these parents have 41,745 and 49,010 descendants, respectively, thus getting into much less exclusive territory. Runge is thus at a significant junction on this pedigree.
I cannot find support for the claim that Kummer was his co-advisor. Several biographies and resources I consulted said nothing about this, and some do not even mention Kummer. Runge’s own dissertation at the end lists several teachers he extends thanks to, especially singling out Paulson and Weierstrass; Kummer is not mentioned at all.
Runge’s 1880 dissertation was “Über die Krümmung, Torsion und geodätische Krümmung der auf einer Fläche gezogenen Curven” (“About the curvature, torsion, and geodetic curvature of the curves drawn on a surface”). See Variants below for alternative ascents, but for now I am only considering his advisor to be…
Karl Weierstrass
Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass (1815-10-31 – 1897-02-19) was a famous German mathematician who did seminal work in analysis. He got a teaching position without a PhD, but was awarded an honorary degree on 1854-03-31 from the University of Königsberg. This makes it unclear who to assign as his parent, if anyone.
The MGP lists him as having two dissertations, one with advisor Christoph Gudermann in 1841 and a second with an unknown advisor in 1854, thus providing him one parent. The AT lists his “grad student” parent as Richelot (below), with no dissertation; this is not explained.⟮9⟯ Weierstrass’s article “Zur Theorie der Abelschen Functionen” (“On the theory of Abelian functions”), published 1854 in Crelle’s Journal, was what brought him repute and his honorary degree, so that is close to a dissertation. The MGP lists his second dissertation as “Beiträge zur Theorie der Abel’schen Integrale” (1854), which was a less noticed, and less thorough, article also outlining this work. Meanwhile, his collaboration with Gudermann was much earlier, and not related to this prestigious later work.
There is a good case for Richelot, certainly if anyone is to be picked. It was Richelot who was impressed by his work and pushed for the honorary degree, and travelled to Weierstrass’s school to deliver it. Many academic supervisors do little more than interface with the university administration, so this relationship is not far outside the usual arrangement. So I will continue with…
Friedrich Julius Richelot
Friedrich Julius Richelot (1808-11-06 – 1875-03-31) was a German mathematician. His major and most famous work was his 1832 dissertation “De resolutione algebraica aequationis x257=1, sive de divisione circuli per bisectionem anguli septies repetitam in partes 257 inter se aequales commentatio coronata” (“On the algebraic resolution of the equation X²⁵⁷=1, or on the division of a circle into 257 equal parts by seven-times repeated bisection of an angle”), written as a student of…
Carol Jacobi
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi (1804-12-10 – 1851-02-18) was a famous German-Jewish mathematician. His name remains attached to many mathematical concepts to this day, such as the Jacobi operator.
His 1825 thesis was “Disquisitiones analyticae de fractionibus simplicibus” (“Analytical discussions of simple fractions”), supervised by…
Enno Dirksen
Enno Heeren Dirksen (1788-01-03 – 1850-07-16) was a German mathematician who taught at the University of Berlin. Although not especially prominent, he is a notable junction on this pedigree. His 1820 thesis was “Historiae progressuum instrumentorum, mensurae angulorum accuratiori inservientium, inde a Tob. Mayeri temporibus, adumbratio; nec non de artificio multiplicationis” (“The history of advances in tools for more accurate measurement of angles since the time of Tobias Mayer, a sketch; and a discussion of the multiplication technique”). The Tobias Mayer in the title is the father of one of his advisors.
Sources agree that Dirksen had two advisors, Thibaut and Mayer (below). The MGP has both Thibaut and Mayer having co-advisors Lichtenberg and Kästner, although the AT has Mayer’s advisor as only Kästner (and misspell Mayer).⟮10⟯ As described below, Lichtenberg did not write a thesis, but Kästner may be the best choice of parent. In any case, ascents will hit Lichtenberg and go through Kästner. So, I have the next two as Dirksen’s co-advisors, the younger Thibaut and the older Mayer, and continue with Lichtenberg and Kästner.
Bernhard Friedrich Thibaut
Bernhard Friedrich Thibaut (1775-12-22 – 1832-11-04) was a German mathematician who taught at the University of Göttingen. His 1795 thesis was “Dissertatio historiam controversiae circa numerorum negativorum et impossibilium logarithmos sistens” (“A dissertation outlining the history of the controversy around negative numbers and impossible logarithms”).
His co-advisors were Lichtenberg and Kästner, which see below.
Johann Tobias Mayer
Johann Tobias Mayer (1752-05-05 NS – 1830-11-30) was a German physicist and astronomer. He was son of the more famous Tobias Mayer.
His 1773 thesis was “Tetragonometriae: Specimen I” (“Tetragonometry: Sample I”), supervised by Kästner (below) and possibly co-advised by…
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-07-01 NS – 1799-02-24) was a German physicist and satirist who both contributed to understanding of electricity and was famous for his witty writings. It may be unclear how to assign a doctoral advisor since he finished his studies in 1767 without completing a thesis. He studied at the University of Göttingen under Kästner, who may be reasonably considered his parent.
In any case, as described above, we one way or another get to…
Abraham Kästner
Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (1719-09-27 NS – 1800-06-20) was a German mathematician who became known primarily for his textbooks. He is a significant point of convergence for several variations of my academic pedigree.
His 1739 thesis was “Theoria radicum in aequationibus” (“The theory of roots in equations”), supervised by…
Christian August Hausen
Christian August Hausen (1693-06-19 – 1743-05-02 NS), sometimes called the Younger to distinguish him from his father of the same name, was a German mathematician and physicist who did pioneering work in electricity.
Although his career was as a scientist, his doctoral work was of a more theological character. His 1713 thesis “De corpore scissuris figurisque non cruentando, ductu Lev. XIX, Com. XXVIII” (“On cutting and marking the body without staining, in accordance with Leviticus 19:28”) was supervised by…
Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen
Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen (1663-10-03 – 1727-01-17 NS) was a German philologist who specialized in Near Eastern languages. His 1685 thesis “Disputationem moralem de divortiis secundum jus naturae” (“A moral disputation on divorces according to the law of nature”) was supervised by…
Otto Mencke
Otto Mencke (1644-03-24 – 1707-01-29 NS) was a German polymath with expertise in both philosophy and science, and a founder of Germany’s first scientific journal, Acta Eruditorum.
His academic career makes it less simple to assign a parent. He wrote multiple works as a student from 1664 to 1666. He studied under Jakob Thomasius, and then went on to study law, believing this was important to his education. It was his second “disputatio pro loco” in 1666 which appears to be associated with his final degree and got him a faculty job.⟮11⟯ So I am considering his doctoral thesis to be this work, “Micropolitiam, id est, rempublicam in microcosmo conspicuam” (“Micropolitics; that is, the republic viewed in microcosm”), which he wrote studying under…
Bartholomäus Leonhard Schwendendörffer
Bartholomäus Leonhard von Schwendendörffer (1631-08-02 – 1705-07-16 NS) was a German legal scholar at the University of Leipzig. His thesis was “Disputatio juridica de permutatione” (“Legal disputation on barter”), and is dated 1655, although his degree appears to have been conferred in 1656.
While I am having trouble confirming it, the AT has his academic parent as his actual parent⟮12⟯, namely his father…
Georg Tobias Schwendendörffer
Georg Tobias Schwendendörffer (1597-11-13 – 1681-04-16) was a German legal scholar. His 1626 thesis was “Disputatio juridica de permutatione” (“Legal disputation on barter”).
My only source for continuing is the German Wikipedia, which says he received his doctoral degree studying under…
Franz Romanus
Franz Römer von Muckershausen (1550s – 1636-01-13), who wrote primarily under his Latinized name Franz Romanus or Franciscus Romanus, was a German legal scholar and lawyer. He completed his studies at the University of Basel (in Switzerland) in 1583, with thesis “Conclusiones subsequentes de mora tam creditorum quam debitorum” (“Subsequent conclusions on delay of both creditors and debtors”).
I have not been able to identify a doctoral advisor. In his thesis dedication, he mentions a relationship with the lawyer Hieronymus Menius (1552-02-08 – 1623-02-15), who it is possible was some kind of advisor, but may have been only a colleague. Hieronymus was a grandson of the famous theologian Justus Menius.
Variants
As described above, the situation is muddy at several points. However, there is some interesting convergence.
As of 2023-07-16, the MGP has 189 ancestors for Runge, which form a complex network, with 4749 lines. Most wind up at Kästner. One line goes to Johann Georg Büsch, who has two "parents". Büsch's two parents and Kästner all have MGP lines going back to early medieval times. The AT adds Richelot, who also goes up to Lichtenberg and Kästner, perhaps twice each.
The following chart summarizes these claimed lines:
⮣ Thibaut ↘⃗ Kästner ⮣ Richelot → Jacobi → Dirksen → Mayer ↗⃯ Lichtenberg → Kästner Runge → Weierstrass → Gudermann → Thibaut ↘⃗ Kästner ⮡ Kummer → Scherk → Brandes ↗⃯ Lichtenberg → Kästner ⮡ Bessel → Gauss → Pfaff → Kästner ⮡ Bode → Büsch
NB: The ordering of advisors in the tables is not significant.
Many of these links are doubtful. For example, I questioned above whether Kummer belongs on the chart. Also, the AT lists only Bode as a grad student parent for Pfaff, with Kästner being a post-doctoral advisor (also adding Lichtenberg as a co-advisor).⟮13⟯
There is remarkable convergence to Kästner, who appears 9 times, from 4 to 7 generations from Runge, or 11 to 14 from me. He has 142,227 descendants on MGP as of 2023-09-05. The only line to miss him goes through Büsch, who has 129,275 descendants. Kästner’s advisor was Christian August Hausen, and the MGP traces him back to prominent figures such as Copernicus and Friedrich Leibniz, father of the more famous Gottfried. The AT, however, traces his grad student line through the legal scholars I describe above. Chart:
⮣ B.Schwendendörffer → G.Schwendendörffer Kästner → Hausen → Wichmannshausen → Mencke → Thomasius → F.Leibniz → Müller ⮡ Planer → Pasch → ⋯ ⮡ Camerarius → ⋯
The AT has Hausen as only a research assistant of Planer, who the MGP calls a parent.⟮14⟯ Similar for Mencke, where the MGP has Thomasius as an additional questionable parent; see discussion above. Mencke’s lines end in any case quickly with scholars with unidentified advisors. Both projects give Johann Andreas Planer extensive pedigrees through two advisors on two different dissertations; perhaps only the earlier (Johann Pasch) should count.
The MGP has Bahmanyar as close as 29 and as far as 52 generations back from me, with 1446 descents from him as of 2023-07-16.
53-generation chart by century
This is the longest line in the MGP from me, and is subject to the caveats noted above. The century is publication of the relevant dissertation, as can be best determined. This line is, interestingly, unique as the longest possible in the MGP database from me.
| 21 | Huntington → Fitelson | 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | → Forster → Bub → Bohm → Oppenheimer → Born | 5 |
| 19 | → Runge → Kummer → Scherk → Bessel | 4 |
| 18 | → Gauss → Pfaff → Kästner → Hausen → Planer | 5 |
| 17 | → Camerarius→ Camerarius Sr. → Metzger → Möbius → Rolfinck | 5 |
| 16 | → Sennert → J.Martini → C.Martini → Liddel → Craig → Zwinger → Ramus → Sturmius → Andernach → Rescius | 10 |
| 15 | → Aleandro → Fortiguerra → Poliziano → Landino → Trebizond → Feltre → Verona | 7 |
| 14 | → Chrysoloras → Kydones → Kabasilas → Palamas → Metochites → Bryennios | 6 |
| 13 | → Chioniadis → al‐Bukhārī → al-Ṭūsī → al-Abharī → al-Mīṣrī | 5 |
| 12 | → al-Rēzī → al-Marwazī | 2 |
| 11 | → Omar Khayyam → Bahmanyar | 2 |
The earlier generations are suspect. In particular, the dates seem off. For example, Tusi lived 1201–1274, yet his advisor al-Abhari allegedly wrote his dissertation in 1264.
With the AT link to Richelot or from Pfaff to Lichtenberg, I could get this chart up to 54 generations.
See
- Me, in the Mathematics Genealogy Project.
- My advisor on the Academic Tree.
Footnotes
- ↑ https://fitelson.org/
- ↑ https://fitelson.org/cv.pdf
- ↑ https://philosophy.wisc.edu/staff/forster-malcolm/
- ↑ https://philosophy.fudan.edu.cn/03/a4/c14253a263076/page.htm
- ↑ https://quics.umd.edu/people/jeffrey-bub
- ↑ http://carnap.umd.edu/philphysics/bub.html
- ↑ https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=52640
- ↑ https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=1942
- ↑ https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=14852
- ↑ https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=34408
- ↑ https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/16108583.pdf
- ↑ https://academictree.org/law/peopleinfo.php?pid=81865
- ↑ https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=7651
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=Gx9GAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false