William Feller

William (Vilim) Feller (July 7 1906 - January 14 1970) was a Croatian-American mathematician specializing in probability theory.

Work

Feller held a docent position at the University of Kiel beginning in 1928. He fled the Nazis and went to Denmark, (Copenhagen) in 1933. He also lectured in Sweden, (Stockholm and Lund). Finally, in 1939 he arrived in the USA where he became a citizen in 1944 and was on the faculty at Brown and Cornell. In 1950 he became a professor at Princeton University.

Related Topics:
Docent - Kiel - 1928 - Nazi - Denmark - Copenhagen - 1933 - Sweden - Stockholm - Lund - 1939 - USA - Citizen - 1944 - Faculty - Brown - Cornell - 1950 - Princeton University

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The works of Feller are contained in 104 papers and two books on a variety of topics such as mathematical analysis, theory of measurement, functional analysis, geometry, and differential equations.

Related Topics:
Mathematical analysis - Measurement - Functional analysis - Geometry - Differential equations

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was the foremost probabilist outside of Russia. In the middle of the 20th century, probability was not generally viewed as a fruitful area of research in mathematics except in Russia, where Kolmogorov and others were influential. Feller contributed to the study of the relationship between Markov chains and differential equations. He wrote a two-volume treatise on probability that has since been universally regarded as one of the most important treatments of that subject.

Related Topics:
Probabilist - Russia - 20th century - Probability - Research - Kolmogorov - Markov chain - Differential equation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~