mathematics

Georg Feigl

Georg Feigl is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Georg Feigl rather than just read about it. In short: Georg Feigl (13 October 1890 – 20 April 1945) was a German mathematician. Life and work Georg Feigl started studying mathematics and physics at the University of Jena in 1909.

Key takeaways

Georg Feigl belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Georg Feigl to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Georg Feigl from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Georg Feigl (13 October 1890 – 20 April 1945) was a German mathematician.

Life and work Georg Feigl started studying mathematics and physics at the University of Jena in 1909. In 1918, he obtained his doctorate under Paul Koebe. From 1928 he was editor of the Jahrbuch über die Fortschritte der Mathematik ("Yearbook on the progress of mathematics"). In 1935 he became a full professor at the University of Breslau. In 1937—1941, he was an editor of the journal Deutsche Mathematik. Feigl's main areas of work were the foundations of geometry and topology, where he studied fixed point theorems for n-dimensional manifolds. Feigl was one of the initial authors of the Mathematisches Wörterbuch ("Mathematical dictionary"). Because of the impending siege by the Red Army he was forced to leave Breslau in January 1945 with his family and other members of the Mathematical Institute. His wife Maria was distantly related to the lord of the manor of Wechselburg castle and prepared the castle to receive the mathematicians. Feigl brought his previously developed materials for the Mathematisches Wörterbuch and asked his students to further refine it in the castle. They did not have access to books, lecture notes, calculators, or typewriters in the castle. Johann Radon (1887–1956) and Feigl were willing and able to continue lectures started in Breslau for one hour a day at Wechselburg castle, without any documents. Feigl had a severe stomach ailment and died after a few months without medication in Wechselburg. The Mathematisches Wörterbuch did not appear until 1961, when Hermann Ludwig Schmid (1908–1956) and Joseph Naas (1906–1993) published it.

References Hans Rohrbach (1961). "Feigl, Georg". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 5. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 57–57. (full text online). Siegfried Gottwald (Ed.), Lexikon bedeutender Mathematiker ("Encyclopedia of important mathematicians"), Bibliographisches Institut ("Bibliographical Institute"), Leipzig 1990, ISBN 3-323-00319-5, p. 145. Hans-Joachim Girlich, Johann Radon in Breslau. Zur Institutionalisierung der Mathematik. ("Johann Radon in Breslau. The institutionalization of Mathematics"). In M. Halub, A. Manko-Matysiak (Ed.), Schlesische Gelehrtenrepublik. ("Silesian Republic of Scholars"), Vol. 2., Wroclaw, p. 393−418. https://web.archive.org/web/20070613211747/http://www.math.uni-leipzig.de/preprint/2005/p4-2005.pdf Josef Naas, Hermann Ludwig Schmid, Mathematisches Wörterbuch. Mit Einbeziehung der theoretischen Physik. ("Mathematical dictionary. With the inclusion of theoretical physics."), 2 Volumes, Academy Publishers, Berlin, 1961.

External links Literature by and about Georg Feigl in the German National Library catalogue

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Georg Feigl

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Georg Feigl claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Georg Feigl before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Georg Feigl ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Georg Feigl

In research: Georg Feigl appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Georg Feigl in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Georg Feigl is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1890 births, 1945 deaths, 20th-century German mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Georg Feigl outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Georg Feigl in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Georg Feigl means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Georg Feigl out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Georg Feigl in simple terms?

Georg Feigl (13 October 1890 – 20 April 1945) was a German mathematician. Life and work Georg Feigl started studying mathematics and physics at the University of Jena in 1909.

Why does Georg Feigl matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Georg Feigl?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Georg Feigl.