Graph theory in America 1876-1950

This narrative is a history of the contributions made to graph theory in the United States of America by American mathematicians and others who supported the growth of scholarship in that country, between the years 1876 and 1950. The beginning of this period coincided with the opening of the first research university in the United States of America, The Johns Hopkins University (although undergraduates were also taught), providing the facilities and impetus for the development of new ideas. The hiring, from England, of one of the foremost mathematicians of the time provided the necessary motivation for research and development for a new generation of American scholars. In addition, it was at this time that home-grown research mathematicians were first coming to prominence. At the beginning of the twentieth century European interest in graph theory, and to some extent the four-colour problem, began to wane. Over three decades, American mathematicians took up this field of study - notably, Oswald Veblen, George Birkhoff, Philip Franklin, and Hassler Whitney. It is necessary to stress that these four mathematicians and all the other scholars mentioned in this history were not just graph theorists but worked in many other disciplines. Indeed, they not only made significant contributions to diverse fields but, in some cases, they created those fields themselves and set the standards for others to follow. Moreover, whilst they made considerable contributions to graph theory in general, two of them developed important ideas in connection with the four-colour problem. Grounded in a paper by Alfred Bray Kempe that was notorious for its fallacious 'proof' of the four-colour theorem, these ideas were the concepts of an unavoidable set and a reducible configuration. To place the story of these scholars within the history of mathematics, America, and graph theory, brief accounts are presented of the early years of graph theory, the early years of mathematics and graph theory in the USA, and the effects of the founding of the first institute for postgraduate study in America. Additionally, information has been included on other influences by such global events as the two world wars, the depression, the influx of European scholars into the United States of America, mainly during the 1930s, and the parallel development of graph theory in Europe. Until the end of the nineteenth century, graph theory had been almost entirely the prerogative of European mathematicians. Perhaps the first work in graph theory carried out in America was by Charles Sanders Peirce, arguably America's greatest logician and philosopher at the time. In the 1860s, he studied the four-colour conjecture and claimed to have written at least two papers on the subject during that decade, but unfortunately neither of these has survived. William Edward Story entered the field in 1879, with unfortunate consequences, but it was not until 1897 that an American mathematician presented a lecture on the subject, albeit only to have the paper disappear. Paul Wernicke presented a lecture on the four-colour problem to the American Mathematician Society, but again the paper has not survived. However, his 1904 paper has survived and added to the story of graph theory, and particularly the four-colour conjecture. The year 1912 saw the real beginning of American graph theory with Veblen and Birkhoff publishing major contributions to the subject. It was around this time that European mathematicians appeared to lose interest in graph theory. In the period 1912 to 1950 much of the progress made in the subject was from America and by 1950 not only had the United States of America become the foremost country for mathematics, it was the leading centre for graph theory

Neurolinguistica e acquisizione linguistica

Grundfragen und Ziele der Neurolinguisti

(De)constructing the archive : an annotated catalog of the Deon van der Walt Collection in the NMMU Library

Deon van der Walt was, at the height of his career, considered the leading lyric tenor of his generation. In a career that spanned more than 25 years he performed in the great opera houses of the world and sang for the leading conductors of the time, sharing the stage with the best singers in the world. He was the first male South African to accomplish the so-called “grand slam” of opera, having sung in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London), Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna), La Scala (Milan) and the Metropolitan Opera House (New York). He was also a prolific oratorio and lieder singer, collaborating with the best artists the musical world had to offer. In addition he left a large recorded legacy, both published and unpublished. His untimely death on 29 November 2005 was extensively reported on both locally and abroad - a fact which again highlighted the importance of his personal and professional contribution to the international opera world.The Deon van der Walt Collection is the single most important key to unlocking the life and career of one of the most successful South African opera singers of all time. It was bequeathed to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Library the Deon van der Walt Trust in 2007. The collection is made up of an arbitrary assortment of books, documents, sound and video recordings that were left in van der Walt’s Zürich accommodations at the time of his death in 2005. It is housed in separate section on the lower level of the South Campus Library of the NMMU. The collection has been partially catalogued by the NMMU Library but left largely unattended for the last 6 years. The compiling of an annotated catalogue of this collection is the vital first step in connecting the dots of an extraordinary musical career that was hailed as one of the greatest of his time

Curating Opera

Recent decades have seen the art curator emerge from a behind-the-scenes, anonymous position to that of a public functionary, challenging the role of the artist as the dominant force in the creation of art. A blurring of the roles of artist, gallerist and curator has resulted, along with a diversification in disciplines that attract curatorial attention, including science and architecture. The notion of Gesamtkunstwerk has frequently been evoked in the literature and even found its way into exhibition titles.1 The blurring of curatorial roles is also a characteristic of the opera house, where the singer, composer, conductor, impresario and (most recently), the stage director historically vie for predominance, giving rise to the power struggles for which the world of opera is renowned. The competing forces that drive operatic practice have so far had no visible commentators (such as the art world has recently acquired), to examine curating and curatorial roles within the opera house and to demystify the process for the public. This thesis will: (1) consider the so-called ‘birth’ of opera, with reference to the near-contemporary rise of the modern art museum; (2) examine aspects of the performance history of works by Gluck, Mozart and Beethoven, in order to demonstrate curatorial practices employed in the dissemination and maintenance of the repertoire; (3) consider curatorial tendencies within the modern opera house with reference to current performance practices and the related practices of art museums, highlighting aspects of authenticity, authorial intent, preservation and historically informed performance practice

Mozart's Bawdy Canons, Vulgarity and Debauchery at the Wiednertheater

Mozart's bawdy canons and use of scatalogical parlance in his letters have been described as indicative of a personality given to crass expression. Moreover, his association with Emanuel Schikaneder's supposedly dissolute Theater auf der Wieden, a boisterous venue for German stage works, has been taken as further evidence of Mozart's profligate tendencies. A review of the original source materials reveals that these views are apocryphal, originating after Mozart's death and embellished in nineteenth-century commentary and scholarship. Examples of even raunchier canons, composed by musicians with connections to Mozart, Schikaneder and the Theater auf der Wieden provide new insight into the genre. An examination surviving bawdy Viennese canons in their social context, together with a reconsideration of the Mozart family letters and attitudes toward vulgarity in Viennese popular theatre, reveals that lewd expressions on the stage were relatively uncommon in this period, Mozart's use of scatalogical language was relatively mild for the time and accounts of the composer's debauchery in his last years have little evidentiary basis

Montana Kaimin, February 3, 1967

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/studentnewspaper/5410/thumbnail.jp

La Rivincita del Professore Ludwig von Bertalanffy: Verso una nuova immagine dell'uomo

La tesi si propone di illustrare la vicenda intellettuale di Ludwig von Bertalanffy, con particolare riferimento allo sviluppo della sua antropologia filosofica e all'accoglienza (o meglio al fraintendimento) di quest'ultima da parte del movimento sistemico americano e della psicologia umanistica sviluppatasi negli Stati Uniti nel secondo dopoguerra

April 25, 2019

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia