Abraham Nemeth facts for kids

Abraham Nemeth (born October 16, 1918, died October 2, 2013) was a smart American mathematician. He taught mathematics at the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Michigan. Nemeth was blind from birth. He is famous for creating Nemeth Braille. This special system helps blind people read and write math.

Abraham Nemeth's Early Life

Nemeth was born in New York City on October 16, 1918. He grew up in a big family of Hungarian Jewish immigrants. They spoke Yiddish, a language often used by Jewish people.

Nemeth was blind from the day he was born. This was due to two eye conditions: macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

School and College

He went to public schools at first. But most of his early education was at the Jewish Guild for the Blind school in Yonkers, New York. For college, he studied psychology at Brooklyn College. Later, he earned a Master of Arts degree in psychology from Columbia University.

Nemeth also studied math and physics at Brooklyn College. His advisors told him not to major in math. But he didn't like his jobs working for agencies that helped blind people. With encouragement from his first wife, Florence, he decided to study math more. He earned a Ph.D. (a high-level degree) in mathematics from Wayne State University.

Abraham Nemeth's Teaching Career

Nemeth taught math part-time at different colleges in New York. Sometimes, schools were unsure about hiring him because he was blind. But he became known as a very good mathematician and teacher.

Nemeth had a special skill: he could write math symbols and letters on paper and blackboards. He did this just like people who can see. He learned this skill when he was a child. Nemeth said this helped him succeed in math. Back then, there wasn't much technology to help blind people with math. Even braille was hard to use for complex math.

In the 1950s, he moved to Detroit, Michigan. He started working at the University of Detroit. He taught there for 30 years, retiring in 1985. In the late 1960s, he also studied computer science. He even started the university's computer science program!

Nemeth's Impact on Math and Blindness

As Nemeth studied more advanced math, he needed a better braille code. The existing codes didn't work well for science and math. So, he created his own system.

The Nemeth Braille Code

He developed the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation. This code was first published in 1952. The Nemeth Code has been updated four times since then. It is still used a lot today by blind students and professionals.

MathSpeak

Nemeth also created the rules for MathSpeak. This is a system for speaking math out loud. When he was studying, Nemeth needed people who could see to read math books to him. He also needed a way to tell others his math work so it could be written down. The ways Nemeth found to read math aloud became MathSpeak.

Unified English Braille (UEB)

Nemeth helped develop Unified English Braille (UEB) from 1991 to 2001. UEB is a newer, combined braille code. However, he later worked on his own system called the Universal Braille System (NUBS).

In 2012, UEB became the official standard for regular braille. But the Nemeth Code was also kept as an official system. This means people can still choose to use Nemeth Code for math.

After Retirement

Nemeth continued to work on the Nemeth Code even after he retired. He was still improving it when he passed away.

He was also very active in the Jewish community. Since retiring from teaching, he spent time turning Hebrew prayer books into Braille.

Nemeth was an active member of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). He wrote stories and gave speeches for the NFB. These talks were about his life as a blind mathematician. In 2006, he had a serious heart attack. But he recovered well. He was able to attend the NFB convention that July. There, he received the 2006 Louis Braille award. In 2009, the NFB honored him again with the Dr. Jacob Bolotin award.

Interesting Facts About Nemeth

• Nemeth's death notice was printed too early twice! Workers at Jewish and blindness magazines thought he had died. But it was actually his brother and wife who had passed away.
• Nemeth was a member of the United States Democratic Party. But a Republican governor of Michigan chose him to lead the state commission for the blind. He held this job for two years. He said he didn't really like politics.
• He was a very good piano player and loved to entertain people. He had an amazing memory for dates and facts. He also enjoyed telling jokes and stories that fit almost any topic!

See also

• Jewish Braille Institute
• Jewish Heritage for the Blind