George David Birkhoff - Career, Influence on hiring practices

Mathematician, born in Overisel, Michigan, USA. A noted Harvard teacher (1912–39) and president of the American Mathematical Society (1925), he focused on differential equations and celestial mechanics, proving Poincare's ‘last geometric theorem’. He also launched a new era in the theory of dynamical systems, stimulating major advances in topology and global analysis. His geometry work remains standard for today's high-school students, and a lifelong interest in music and the arts culminated in his book Aesthetic Measure (1933).

George David Birkhoff (21 March 1884, Overisel, Michigan - 12 November 1944, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American mathematician, best known for what is now called the ergodic theorem. Birkhoff was one of the most important leaders in American mathematics in his generation, and during his prime he was considered by many to be the preeminent American mathematician.

The mathematician Garrett Birkhoff (1911-1996) was his son.

Career

Birkhoff obtained the his A.B.

Awards and honors

In 1923, he was awarded the inaugural Bôcher Memorial Prize by the American Mathematical Society for his paper Birkhoff (1917) containing, among other things, what is now called the Birkhoff curve shortening flow.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Académie des Sciences in Paris, the Pontifical Academy, and the London and Edinburg Mathematical Societies.

Service

Vice-president of the American Mathematical Society, 1919. President of the American Mathematical Society, 1925-1926. Editor of Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, 1920-1924. A consequence is that black holes are not merely a mathematical curiosity, but could result from any spherical star having sufficient mass.

Birkhoff's most durable result has been his 1931 discovery of what is now called the ergodic theorem.

In his later years, Birkhoff published two curious speculative works. His 1933 Aesthetic Measure proposed a mathematical theory of aesthetics. His 1943 theory of gravitation is also puzzling, since Birkhoff knew (but didn't seem to mind) that his theory allows as sources only matter which is a perfect fluid in which the speed of sound must equal the speed of light (which, needless to say, is quite inconsistent with experiment!).

Influence on hiring practices

Albert Einstein, among others, accused Birkhoff of advocating anti-Semitic hiring practices. During the 1930s, when many Jewish mathematicians fled Europe and tried to obtain jobs in the USA, Birkhoff is alleged to have influenced the hiring process at American institutions to exclude Jews. While Birkhoff may have held anti-Semitic views, it was also the case that he had always been outspoken in his promotion of American mathematics and mathematicians. Until Hitler's 1933 ascension, Americans often did their Ph.Ds in Europe, and American mathematics was not well-regarded by European mathematicians. It has been argued that Birkhoff's actions were in good part motivated by a desire to assure jobs for home-grown American mathematicians. Saunders Mac Lane (1994), a close friend and collaborator of Birkhoff's son, argued that any anti-Semitic tendencies Birkhoff may have had were not unusual for his time.