Edmund Landau profoundly influenced the development of number theory. His primary research focused on analytic number theory, especially the distribution of prime numbers and prime ideals. An extremely productive author of at least 250 publications, Landau's writings had a distinct style. His prose was carefully crafted, highlighted by lucid, comprehensive argumentation and a thorough explanation of the background knowledge required to understand it. Landau's writing style became more succinct over the course of his career. He was forced to retire from teaching at the behest of Nazi anti-Semitic policies.

Born in Berlin on February 14, 1877, Landau was the son of Leopold, a gynecologist, and Johanna (Jacoby) Landau. Johanna Landau came from a wealthy family with whom the Landaus lived in an affluent section of Berlin. Although Leopold Landau was an assimilated Jew and a German patriot, in 1872 he helped found an Judaism academy in Berlin. Landau himself studied in Berlin...