Gerhard Ringel facts for kids
Gerhard Ringel (born October 28, 1919, died June 24, 2008) was a famous German mathematician. He was born in Austria but spent most of his life in Germany and the United States. Ringel was a very important person in a math area called graph theory. He helped solve a big math puzzle known as the Heawood conjecture, which is now part of the Ringel–Youngs theorem. This puzzle is connected to another famous math problem, the four color theorem.
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Early Life and Education
Gerhard Ringel was born in Kollnbrunn, Austria. He grew up in Czechoslovakia. He went to Charles University to study. In 1940, he joined the German army, called the Wehrmacht. After World War II, he was held in a camp for prisoners of war for more than four years.
He later earned his PhD (a high university degree) in 1951. He got this degree from the University of Bonn in Germany. His teachers, Emanuel Sperner and Ernst Peschl, helped him with his research.
A Career in Mathematics
Ringel started his teaching career as a professor. He taught at the Free University Berlin in Germany. In 1970, he moved from Germany. He went to the University of California, Santa Cruz in the United States. His friend and fellow mathematician, John W. T. (Ted) Youngs, invited him to come.
Ringel received special honors for his work. He was given honorary doctorate degrees. These came from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Free University of Berlin. These degrees showed how much his work was respected.
What is Graph Theory?
Gerhard Ringel was a pioneer in graph theory. This is a part of mathematics that studies "graphs." In math, a graph is not like a bar graph. It's a collection of points, called "vertices," and lines connecting them, called "edges."
Think of a map with cities and roads. The cities are vertices, and the roads are edges. Graph theory helps solve problems about networks. It can be used for things like planning routes or designing computer networks.
The Four Color Theorem
One famous problem in graph theory is the four color theorem. Imagine you have a map of countries. The rule is that any two countries sharing a border must have different colors. The theorem says you only need four colors to color any map.
Gerhard Ringel worked on a problem related to this, called the Heawood conjecture. He helped prove that this idea was true. His work, along with Ted Youngs, led to the Ringel–Youngs theorem. This was a big step in solving the four color problem.
A Passion for Butterflies
Besides being a brilliant mathematician, Ringel had another passion. He was also a well-known entomologist. An entomologist is someone who studies insects. His main hobby was collecting and raising butterflies.
He had an amazing collection of butterflies. Before he passed away, he gave his entire collection to the UCSC Museum of Natural History Collections. This way, others can learn from his incredible work.
