1790 - Motzkin, T.

Motzkin, T. Contributions to the Theory of Linear Inequalities. Inaugural dissertation submitted to the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Basel for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Jerusalem, Azriel Printing House, 1936. Gr.8°. 2 leaves, 71 pp., 3 leaves in cardboard (spine rubbed, stain on front cover). NDB XVIII, 231. - Very rare dissertation by the eminent mathematician of Russian descent. "Even with his doctoral thesis on linear inequalities, M. had made a significant contribution to the development of linear programming, which, however, only received belated recognition around 1951 through translations into English" (J. Schwermer in NDB). - Theodor Motzkin (1908–1970), born and raised in Berlin, was the son of the writer Leo Motzkin (1867–1933) and studied mathematics in Göttingen, Berlin, and Paris. After a stay in Jerusalem (1930–32), he completed his studies in 1933 with this dissertation under A. Ostrowski in Basel. From 1934, he worked as a lecturer at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and moved to the United States in 1948. - Copy from the estate of Felix Behrend.