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Autobiography of Olga Taussky-Todd

Taussky-Todd, Olga (1980) Autobiography of Olga Taussky-Todd. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Todd_O

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Abstract

This autobiographical essay was written for the Archives in 1979-80 by Olga Taussky-Todd, emeritus professor of mathematics. In it she recalls her childhood and early education in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Vienna and Linz; her early interest in mathematics; her studies at the University of Vienna; and her interest in algebraic number theory (PhD 1930). Recollections of her thesis advisor Philip Furtwängler, Hans Hahn, Kurt Gödel, Karl Menger; her appointment in Göttingen as one of the editors of Hilbert's collected works; colleagues at Göttingen; friendship with Emmy Noether. She spends the 1934-35 academic year at Bryn Mawr, with Emmy Noether, then moves to Girton College, Cambridge. The next year she moves to London University; meets and marries fellow mathematician John (Jack) Todd. After World War II breaks out, they move to Queens University in Belfast, then back to London; their war work; their move to U.S.A. in 1947. Her interest in matrix theory; their stay at the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton. Their appointment at the Institute for Numerical Analysis, UCLA. Return to London. Their work at the National Bureau of Standards, in Washington, in early 1950s. 1957 appointments at Caltech: John Todd as professor of mathematics, Olga Taussky-Todd as research associate. Recollections of her mathematical research, her colleagues, and her work with students at Caltech.


Item Type:Oral History
Additional Information:Ed. note: This essay was reprinted in Albers and Alexanderson (eds.), Mathematical People: Profiles and Interviews (Boston: Birkhauser, 1985).
Keywords:Mathematics, autobiography
Record Number:CaltechOH:OH_Todd_O
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Todd_O
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
Subjects:Subjects > Mathematics
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ID Code:43
Collection:CaltechOralHistories
Deposited By: Oral Histories Administrator
Deposited On:17 Apr 2003
Last Modified:04 Oct 2019 15:23

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