Jesse Douglas
Jesse Douglas · Science & Medicine
Solved Plateau's problem (first Fields Medal, 1936)
1897, New York City, United States — 1965, New York City, United States
United States
Jesse Douglas is recognized among Jewish contributors to Science & Medicine — Solved Plateau's problem (first Fields Medal, 1936)
Born into a Jewish family in New York City, Douglas trained at City College and Columbia. He gave the first general solution to Plateau's problem — proving that a minimal surface (a soap-film-like surface of least area) spans any given closed curve — a question open since the 19th century. For this he received one of the two first Fields Medals in 1936. He was Jewish.
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Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Mathematics
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Solved Plateau's problem (first Fields Medal, 1936)
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Mathematics
