Marcel Grossmann: For the Love of Mathematics (Springer Biographies) by Claudia Graf-Grossmann (PDF)

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Zurich, summer 1912. Albert Einstein has just returned from Prague to the city on the Limmat. He sends a plea for help to his former fellow student, the mathematician Marcel Grossmann (1878-1936), for he is in need of assistance with the mathematical calculations of his general theory of relativity. What then follows is one of the most fascinating chapters of science history, with far-reaching consequences for the lives of the two friends. Marcel Grossmann’s granddaughter paints here a picture of a fiery and many-talented scientist and patriot. She traces the influence of an entrepreneurial family during Germany’s rapid industrial expansion in the late 19th century. The family’s fluctuating fortunes take the story to the vibrant city of Budapest on the Danube; they enable readers to sense the pioneering spirit at Zurich’s young Polytechnic Institute (now ETH Zurich) – but also reflect the worries and hardships of the First World War and interwar years.The Foreword is written by Prof. Remo Ruffini, founder and president of the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics and the Marcel Grossmann Meetings. Last but not least, an extensive contribution by Dr. Tilman Sauer offers a scientific-historical appreciation of Marcel Grossmann’s enduring contributions.

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⭐“Marcel Grossmann – For the Love of Mathematics”by Claudia Graf-GrossmannMarcel Grossmann was a bridge-builder between physics and mathematics, a source of inspiration for modern scientists up to the present day. His contribution deserves to be known widely.We start the story with Einstein’s special and general relativity.By 1905 Albert Einstein had developed special relativity, restricted to “inertial frames” which are not accelerated. Einstein then aimed to extend the theory to include the force of gravity. But on proceeding to general relativity and the theory of gravitation, he found himself confronted with such great mathematical difficulties that he had to consult his friend Marcel Grossmann. This was Albert’s famous call for help – “Grossmann, you have to help me, otherwise I will go crazy!”.Grossmann was able to show him that the mathematical language for the new physics had already been developed by Bruno Christoffel in 1869, Bernhard Riemann in 1876, and Italian mathematicians Gregorio Ricci and Tullio Levi-Civita in 1901. This mathematical language was completely unknown to Einstein and all other physicists of that time.Einstein and Grossmann authored their classic joint paper in 1913 “Outline of a Generalised Theory of Relativity and of a Theory of Gravitation” while Einstein went on to publish his complete General Relativity in 1915.Author Claudia Graf-Grossmann well narrates the interweaving of the lives of Einstein and her grandfather Marcel Grossmann. It is the most significant synthesis between physics and mathematics in history and a most fortunate existing relationship. And all readers can relate to Einstein’s quote “I admire the elegance of your method of computation; it must be nice to ride through these fields upon the horse of true mathematics while the like of us have to make our way laboriously on foot”.It is uncontested that physicist Einstein contributed the lion’s share to the theory, the mathematician Grossmann provided him with indispensable instruments. The author rightly hails this as “an inter-disciplinary, unbureaucratic and fruitful cooperation in the best sense”. But as it is still uncontradicted today, do not expect Einstein-Grossmann Relativity to match the Hubble Law becoming the Hubble-Lémaitre Law.Nevertheless, this episode follows the pattern of mathematical-physics success narrated in my book “Mathematics the Truth”. In my humble opinion Marcel Grossmann is short-changed to say the very least.According to Einstein, Grossmann never made a claim to being a co-discoverer of general relativity. He searched the mathematical literature, but he made no material contribution to the results. Marcel never emphasised his role in the theory. It is always Albert’s achievements which he places in the foreground. The author speculates if this is modesty, or did he see his contribution, as exciting as it may have been, simply as a temporary excursion into the field of physics, before he turns back to his core topics, mathematics and geometry? Is he truly not conscious of the fact that he fulfilled a real function as a bridge-builder between the worlds of the mathematician and the physicist? Most probably, he assessed the success of the theory with gratification and pride, but was already following ideas in descriptive and projective geometry.(Of course, a biography has lots of meandering information which may help set the scene. As may a cake recipe for ‘Paster Gipfeli’ of his mother Henriette Grossmann. And reviewers will list trivia such as the conference photo in Zurich 1917 of Chapter 7 unnecessarily labelling 10 people two of which are H. Weyl, a male and a female.)Pausing in the current debate about the use of String Theory in mathematical physics, it is worth remembering Marcel Grossmann as a bridge-builder between physics and mathematics along with the work of James Maxwell and Johannes Kepler who previously combined physics and mathematics with such monumental success.Or was he a lot more?Malcolm Cameron3 November 2018

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