1864-1909

German mathematician whose four-dimensional geometry of space and time (known since as "Minkowski space") influenced the development of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. Minkowski's contributions also included the use of geometric methods in number theory. He was born of German parents in what was then part of the Russian Empire (now Lithuania) and educated in Germany. He taught mathematics at universities in Bonn, Königsberg, Zurich, and Göttingen. Minkowski's major work was Raum und Zeit (Space and Time), published 1907.