4-47-40. H. Poincaré to Felix Klein

[Ca. April 1906]

Mon cher Collègue,

Je vous suis très reconnaissant de la peine que vous aviez prise jusqu’ici pour votre travail et je comprends très bien que vous ayez reculé devant une pareille tâche, qui venait s’ajouter à vos autres occupations si nombreuses.11endnote: 1 The context of this letter is most likely that of the first Bolyai Prize of the Hungarian Academy of Science, awarded to Poincaré on 18 April 1905. The jury was composed of Jules König, Gustave Rados, Felix Klein, and Gaston Darboux, who presided. When the jury decided to award the Bolyai Prize to Poincaré, on 13 October 1901, Klein was tasked with writing the report on the works of the two candidates, David and Poincaré. Informed by Darboux of the jury’s decision in his favor, Poincaré wrote to Klein to thank him for his support (§ 4-47-38). At some point, Klein decided to forgo writing the report, and he probably informed Poincaré of his decision, prompting Poincaré’s response. In Klein’s place, Gustave Rados was charged with writing the report; see Rados (1906). The second Bolyai Prize was awarded to Hilbert in 1910, and Poincaré was tasked with writing the report, which he duly delivered; see Poincaré (1911c, 1911b, 1911a, 1911d, (1912)). Je ne vous en remercie pas moins des efforts que vous aviez fait pour l’accomplir. J’ai reçu les papiers que vous m’avez renvoyés sous pli recommandé.

Ma femme est très touchée du mot de souvenir que vous nous adressez au sujet de nos noces d’argent.

Veuillez, mon cher Collègue, présenter à Madame Klein mes respectueux hommages et croire à ma sincère amitié,

Poincaré

ALS 2p. Nachlass Klein, Handscriftenabteilung, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen. Edited by Dugac (1989, 125).

Time-stamp: "28.04.2021 16:41"

Notes

  • 1 The context of this letter is most likely that of the first Bolyai Prize of the Hungarian Academy of Science, awarded to Poincaré on 18 April 1905. The jury was composed of Jules König, Gustave Rados, Felix Klein, and Gaston Darboux, who presided. When the jury decided to award the Bolyai Prize to Poincaré, on 13 October 1901, Klein was tasked with writing the report on the works of the two candidates, David and Poincaré. Informed by Darboux of the jury’s decision in his favor, Poincaré wrote to Klein to thank him for his support (§ 4-47-38). At some point, Klein decided to forgo writing the report, and he probably informed Poincaré of his decision, prompting Poincaré’s response. In Klein’s place, Gustave Rados was charged with writing the report; see Rados (1906). The second Bolyai Prize was awarded to Hilbert in 1910, and Poincaré was tasked with writing the report, which he duly delivered; see Poincaré (1911c, 1911b, 1911a, 1911d, (1912)).

Références

  • P. Dugac (1989) Henri Poincaré, la correspondance avec des mathématiciens (de J à Z). Cahiers du séminaire d’histoire des mathématiques 10, pp. 83–229. Link Cited by: 4-47-40. H. Poincaré to Felix Klein.
  • H. Poincaré (1911a) Prix Bolyai : procès verbal des Séances de la Commission internationale de 1910 (décerné à M. David Hilbert). Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Budapest. Link Cited by: endnote 1.
  • H. Poincaré (1911b) Rapport sur le prix Bolyai (décerné à M. David Hilbert). Rendiconti del Circolo matematico di Palermo 31, pp. 109–132. Link Cited by: endnote 1.
  • H. Poincaré (1911c) Rapport sur le prix Bolyai, 18/10/1910. Bulletin des sciences mathématiques 31, pp. 67–100. Link Cited by: endnote 1.
  • H. Poincaré (1911d) The Bolyai Prize: report on the works of Hilbert. Science 33 (855), pp. 753–765. Cited by: endnote 1.
  • H. Poincaré (1912) Rapport sur le prix Bolyai. Acta mathematica 35, pp. 2–28. Link Cited by: endnote 1.
  • G. Rados (1906) Rapport sur le Prix Bolyai. Bulletin des sciences mathématiques 11, pp. 105. Link Cited by: endnote 1.