View source for Richard von Mises

{{short description|Austrian physicist and mathematician (1883–1953)}}
{{Ntbcw|text=his brother, [[Ludwig von Mises]]}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Richard von Mises
|image             = Portrait of Richard von Mises (1883-1953), Mathematician and Engineer (2551839576) (cropped).jpg
|image_size       =
|caption           =
|birth_date        = 19 April 1883
|birth_place       = [[Lemberg]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
|death_date        = {{death date and age|1953|7|14|1883|4|19|df=yes}}
|death_place       = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], US
|residence         =
|citizenship       =
|nationality       =
|ethnicity         =
|relatives         = [[Ludwig von Mises]] (brother)
|spouse            = [[Hilda Geiringer]]
|field             = [[Solid mechanics]], [[fluid mechanics]], [[aerodynamics]], [[aeronautics]], [[statistics]] and [[probability theory]]
|education         = [[Vienna University of Technology]]
|work_institutions = [[Brno University of Technology]]<br>[[University of Strasbourg]]<br>[[TU Dresden]]<br>[[Humboldt University of Berlin]]<br>[[University of Istanbul]]<br>[[Harvard University]]
|alma_mater        =
|doctoral_advisor  = [[Georg Hamel]]
|doctoral_students = [[Geoffrey S. S. Ludford]]<br/>[[Stefan Bergman]]<br>[[Hermine Agavni Kalustyan]]
|known_for         = [[von Mises distribution]]<br/>[[Boundary layer#Boundary layer equations#Von Mises transformation|Von Mises transformation]]<br/>[[Von Mises statistic]]<br/>[[Bernstein–von Mises theorem]]<br/>[[Cramér–von Mises criterion]]<br/>[[von Mises yield criterion]]<br/>[[Von Mises–Fisher distribution]]<br />[[Random sequence]]<br />[[Sample space]]<br />[[V-statistic]]
|influences        =
|influenced        =
|prizes            =
|religion          =
|footnotes         =
|signature         =
}}

'''Richard Martin Edler von Mises'''<ref>{{German title|Edler}}</ref> ({{IPA|de|fɔn ˈmiːzəs|lang}}; 19 April 1883 – 14 July 1953) was an [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian]] scientist and mathematician who worked on [[solid mechanics]], [[fluid mechanics]], [[aerodynamics]], [[aeronautics]], [[statistics]] and [[probability theory]]. He held the position of [[Gordon McKay]] Professor of Aerodynamics and Applied Mathematics at [[Harvard University]]. He described his work in his own words shortly before his death as:

{{blockquote|practical [[Mathematical analysis|analysis]], [[Integral equation|integral]] and [[differential equation]]s, mechanics, [[Fluid dynamics|hydrodynamics]] and aerodynamics, [[Straightedge and compass construction|constructive geometry]], probability calculus, statistics and philosophy.<ref name="JohnsonKotz2011">{{cite book|author1=Norman L. Johnson|author2=Samuel Kotz|title=Leading Personalities in Statistical Sciences: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzZZ-uW6WuEC&pg=PA385|date=26 September 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-15072-6|page=385}}</ref>}}

Although best known for his mathematical work, von Mises also contributed to the philosophy of science as a [[Logical positivism|neo-positivist]] and [[Empiricism|empiricist]], following the line of [[Ernst Mach]]. Historians of the [[Vienna Circle]] of [[logical empiricism]] recognize a "first phase" from 1907 through 1914 with  [[Philipp Frank]], [[Hans Hahn (mathematician)|Hans Hahn]], and [[Otto Neurath]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stadler|first=Friedrich|title=The Vienna Circle and Logical Empiricism: Re-Evaluation and Future Perspectives|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|year=2003|isbn=978-0-306-48214-4|location=New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow|pages=XIII}}</ref> His older brother, [[Ludwig von Mises]], held an opposite point of view with respect to positivism and epistemology. His brother developed ''[[praxeology]]'', an ''a priori'' view.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mises.org/story/1700|title=Ludwig von Mises: A Scholar Who Would Not Compromise - Fritz Machlup|last=kanopiadmin|date=15 December 2004}}</ref>

During his time in [[Istanbul]], Mises maintained close contact with [[Philipp Frank]],<ref>{{Citation
|pmid = 17746140
|last=Frank
|first=P
|date=11 June 1954
|title=The Work of Richard von Mises: 1883–1953.
|volume=119
|issue=3102
|periodical=[[Science (journal)|Science]]
|pages=823–824
|doi = 10.1126/science.119.3102.823
|bibcode = 1954Sci...119..823F }}</ref> a logical positivist and Professor of Physics in Prague until 1938. His literary interests included the Austrian novelist [[Robert Musil]] and the poet [[Rainer Maria Rilke]], on whom he became a recognized expert.<ref name="Mactut">{{cite web |url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Mises.html|title=Richard von Mises|last1=O'Connor|first1=J. J.|last2=Robertson|first2=E. F. |publisher=JOC/EFR |date=10 April 1016 |website=Mactutor Archive - School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland |access-date=25 July 2016}}</ref>

==Life==
Von Mises was born in [[Lviv|Lemberg]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (today [[Lviv]], Ukraine) into a [[Jewish family]], eighteen months after his brother [[Ludwig von Mises]], who became a prominent [[economist]] of the [[Austrian School]], a [[Heterodox economics|heterodox school of economics]]. His parents were Arthur Edler von Mises, a doctor of technical sciences who worked for the [[Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways|Austrian State Railways]], and Adele Landau. Richard and Ludwig had a younger brother, Karl von Mises, who died as an infant from [[Scarlet fever|Scarlet Fever]].<ref>Ryan Minnich, ''Ludwig von Mises: Protector of the Free Market''</ref> Richard attended the [[Akademisches Gymnasium (Vienna)|Akademisches Gymnasium]] in Vienna, from which he graduated with honors in [[Latin]] and mathematics in autumn 1901. After graduating in mathematics, physics and engineering from the [[Vienna University of Technology]], he was appointed as [[Georg Hamel]]'s assistant in Brünn ([[Brno]]). In 1905, still a student, he published an article on the geometry of curves called "Zur konstruktiven Infinitesimalgeometrie der ebenen Kurven," in the prestigious ''Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik''.

[[Image:Mises family crest with transparent background.png|thumb|upright|The von Mises's family [[Crest (heraldry)|crest]]]]

In 1908, von Mises was awarded a doctorate from Vienna (his dissertation was on "the determination of flywheel masses in crank drives") and he received his [[habilitation]] from Brünn (Brno) (on "Theory of the [[Waterwheel]]s") to lecture on engineering. In 1909, at 26, he was appointed professor of applied mathematics in [[Strasbourg]] (then part of the [[German Empire]]) and received [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] [[citizenship]]. His application for a teaching position at the [[Brno University of Technology]] was interrupted by the [[World War I|First World War]].

Before the war he had already become a pilot and lectured on aircraft design, and in 1913 at Strasbourg he gave the first university course on powered flight. At the outbreak of war it was natural for him to join the Austro-Hungarian army as a [[test pilot]] and a flying instructor. In 1915, he supervised the construction of a 600-[[horsepower]] (450 [[kW]]) aircraft – the "Mises-Flugzeug" (Mises aircraft) for the Austrian army. It was completed in 1916 but never saw active service.

After the war, von Mises held the new chair of [[hydrodynamics]] and [[aerodynamics]] at the [[Dresden]] ''Technische Hochschule''. In 1919 he was appointed director and full professor at the new Institute of Applied Mathematics created at the behest of [[Erhard Schmidt]] at the University of Berlin. In 1921 he founded the journal ''Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik'' and became its editor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wiley-vch.de/publish/en/journals/alphabeticIndex/2233/|title=Wiley-VCH - ZAMM|website=www.wiley-vch.de}}</ref>

With the rise of the [[National Socialist German Workers Party|National Socialist Party]] to power in 1933, Mises felt his position threatened,{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} despite his [[First World War]] military service. He moved to [[Turkey]], where he assumed the new chair of pure and [[applied mathematics]] at the [[University of Istanbul]]. In 1939 he accepted a position in the [[United States]], where in 1944 he was appointed as Gordon McKay Professor of Aerodynamics and Applied Mathematics at [[Harvard University]]. In 1943 he married [[Hilda Geiringer]], a mathematician who had been his assistant at the Institute and moved with him to Turkey and then to the U.S.

In 1950, von Mises declined honorary membership from the [[Communist]]-dominated [[German Democratic Republic|East German]] Academy of Science.

==Contributions==
In aerodynamics, von Mises made advances in [[Boundary layer flow|boundary-layer flow]] theory and [[airfoil]] design. He developed the ''[[Von Mises stress|distortion energy theory]]'' of [[Stress (physics)|stress]], an important factor in material strength calculations.

His ideas were not universally well received, although [[Alexander Ostrowski]] had said of him: "Only with the appointment of Richard von Mises to the University of Berlin did the first serious German school of applied mathematics with a broad sphere of influence come into existence. Von Mises was an incredibly dynamic person and at the same time amazingly versatile like [[Carl David Tolmé Runge|Runge]]. He was especially well versed in the realm of technology." and also wrote "Because of his dynamic personality his occasional major blunders were somehow tolerated. One has even forgiven him his theory of probability." Yet [[Andrey Kolmogorov]], whose rival [[Axiomatic system|axiomatisation]] was better received, was less severe: "The basis for the applicability of the results of the mathematical theory of probability to real 'random phenomena' must depend on some form of the frequency concept of probability, the unavoidable nature of which has been established by von Mises in a spirited manner."

In [[probability theory]], he proposed the famous "[[birthday problem]]".<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1 = P. |editor-last1 = Frank |editor-first2 = S. |editor-last2 = Goldstein |editor-first3 = M. |editor-last3 = Kac |editor-first4 = W. |editor-last4 = Prager |editor-first5 = G. |editor-last5 = Szegö |editor-first6 = G. |editor-last6 = Birkhoff |title = Selected Papers of Richard von Mises |volume = 2 | pages = 313–334 |date=1964 |publisher = Amer. Math. Soc. |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}</ref> He also defined the [[impossibility of a gambling system]].<ref>''Probability, Statistics and Truth'' by Richard von Mises 1928/1981 Dover, {{ISBN|0-486-24214-5}} page 25</ref><ref>''Counting for something: statistical principles and personalities'' by William Stanley Peters 1986 {{ISBN|0-387-96364-2}} page 3</ref>

In [[solid mechanics]], von Mises contributed to the theory of [[Plasticity (physics)|plasticity]] by formulating the [[von Mises yield criterion]], independently of [[Tytus Maksymilian Huber]].

He is often credited for the [[Principle of Maximum Plastic Dissipation]].

The [[Gesellschaft für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamm-ev.de/|title=GAMM e.V. - Start|first=GAMM|last=e.V.|website=www.gamm-ev.de}}</ref> (Society of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics) awards a [[Richard von Mises Prize]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamm-ev.de/rm_preis.htm|title=Richard-von-Mises-Preis|date=13 February 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050213174058/http://www.gamm-ev.de/rm_preis.htm|archive-date=13 February 2005|df=dmy-all}}</ref> since 1989.

==Bibliography==
===Books===
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* Richard von Mises, [[Philipp Frank]], [[Heinrich Martin Weber|Heinrich Weber]],  [[Bernhard Riemann]], ''Die Differential- und Integralgleichungen der Mechanik und Physik'', 1925, 1930.
* Richard von Mises, ''Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung und ihre Anwendungen in der Statistik und theoretischen Physik'', 1931.
* Richard von Mises, ''The critical external pressure of cylindrical tubes under uniform radial and axial load'', (Translation of ''Kritischer Außendruck zylindrischer Rohre'', 1917), U.S. Experimental Model Basin, Navy Yard, 1933.
* Richard von Mises, P. Frank, H. Weber and B. Riemann,  ''Die Differential- und Integralgleichungen der Mechanik und Physik'', 2nd expanded. ed., 2 vols. New York, Mary S. Rosenberg: 1943.
* Richard von Mises, [[William Prager|W. Prager]] and [[G. Kuerti]], ''Theory of Flight'', New York, McGraw-Hill, 1945.
* Richard Von Mises, ''Rilke in English,: A tentative bibliography'', The Cosmos press, 1947
* Richard von Mises, ''Notes on mathematical theory of compressible fluid flow'', Harvard University, Graduate School of Engineering, 1948.
* Richard von Mises, ''On Bergman's integration method in two-dimensional compressible fluid flow'', Harvard University, Graduate School of Engineering, 1949.
* Richard von Mises, ''On the thickness of a steady shock wave'', Harvard University, Dept. of Engineering, 1951
* Presented to Richard von Mises by Friends, Colleagues and Pupils,  ''Studies in Mathematics and Mechanics'', New York, 1954.
* Richard von Mises,  ''Positivism: A Study in Human Understanding'', G. Braziller, 1956. {{ISBN|0-486-21867-8}} (Paperback, Dover, 1968 {{ISBN|0-486-21867-8}}).
* Richard von Mises, [[Hilda Geiringer]] & [[Geoffrey S. S. Ludford]],  [http://www.libreriauniversitaria.it/BUS/0486439410/Mathematical_Theory_of_Compressible_Fluid_Flow.htm ''Mathematical Theory of Compressible Fluid Flow''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104101144/http://www.libreriauniversitaria.it/BUS/0486439410/Mathematical_Theory_of_Compressible_Fluid_Flow.htm |date=4 November 2005 }}. New York, Academic Press, 1958.
* Richard von Mises, ''Theory of Flight'', New York, Dover, 1959. {{ISBN|0-486-60541-8}}
* Richard von Mises, ''Selected Papers of Richard von Mises'', 2 volumes, AMS, Rhode Island, 1963, 1964.
* Richard von Mises, ''Mathematical Theory of Probability and Statistics'', New York, Academic Press, 1964.
* Richard von Mises, ''Probability and Statistics, General'', American Mathematical Society, 1964.
* Heinrich Sequenz ed. ''150 Jahre Technische Hochschule in Wien. 1815–1965'', Festschrift in 3 Volumes, Springer Verlag, Wien, New York, 1965.
* Richard von Mises and K. O. Friedrichs, ''Fluid Dynamics'', New York: Springer-Verlag, 1971. {{ISBN|0-387-90028-4}}
* M. Pinl  &  L. Furtmüller,  ''Mathematicians under Hitler'', In Year Book XVIII of the Leo Baeck Institute, London, 1973.
* Richard von Mises, Theodore Von Karman,  ''Advances in Applied Mechanics'', Academic Press, 1975. {{ISBN|0-12-002015-7}}
* W. Roeder &  H. A. Strauss, ''International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Émigrés 1933–1945'', Saur, München, New York, London, Paris, 1980–1983.
* Richard von Mises,  ''Probability, Statistics and Truth'', 2nd rev. English ed., New York, Dover, 1981. {{ISBN|0-486-24214-5}}
* Richard von Mises,  ''Kleines Lehrbuch des Positivismus. Einführung in die empiristische Wissenschaftsauffassung'', Suhrkamp, 1990. {{ISBN|3-518-28471-1}}
* Richard von Mises, Wolfgang Gröbner, Wolfgang Pauli,  ''Österreichische Mathematik und Physik'', Die Zentralbibliothek, 1993. {{ISBN|3-900490-03-1}}
* Robert Winter, ''Das Akademische Gymnasium in Wien. Vergangenheit und Gegenwart'', Wien, Köln, Weimar 1996.
* R. Siegmund-Schultze, ''Mathematiker auf der Flucht vor Hitler. Quellen und Studien zur Emigration einer Wissenschaft'', Braunschweig und Wiesbaden, Vieweg, 1998.
{{div col end}}

===Articles===
* R. v. Mises, "Zur konstruktiven Infinitesimalgeometrie der ebenen Kurven," ''Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik'', 52, 1905, pp.&nbsp;44–85.
* R. v. Mises, "Zur Theorie der Regulatoren", ''Elektrotechnik und Maschinenbau'' 37, 1908, pp.&nbsp;783–789.

==See also==
* [[Birthday problem]]
* [[Impossibility of a gambling system]]
* [[Bernstein–von Mises theorem]]
* [[Cramér–von Mises criterion]]
* [[von Mises distribution]]

==Notes==
<references />

==References==
* Biography in ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'', New York, 1970–1990.
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9052958 Biography] in ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.

===Further reading===
* A. Basch,  "Richard von Mises zum 70. Geburtstag", ''Osterreich. Ing.-Arch.'' 7, 1953, pp.&nbsp;73–76.
* B. Bernhardt,  "Skizzen zu Leben und Werk von Richard Mises", in ''Österreichische Mathematik und Physik'', Wien, Zentralbibliothek für Physik, 1993, pp.&nbsp;51–62.
* H. Bernhardt,  "Zum Leben und Wirken des Mathematikers Richard von Mises",  ''NTM Schr. Geschichte Natur. Tech. Medizin'' 16 (2), 1979, pp.&nbsp;40–49.
* G. Birkhoff,  "Richard von Mises' years at Harvard",  ''Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik'' 63 (7), 1983, pp.&nbsp;283–284.
* L. Collatz,  "Richard von Mises als numerischer Mathematiker",  ''Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik'' (7), 1983, pp.&nbsp;278–280.
* H. Cramér,  "Richard von Mises' work in probability and statistics", ''Ann. Math. Statistics'' 24, 1953, pp.&nbsp;657–662.
* D. v. Dalen,  "The War of the Frogs and the Mice or the Crisis of the 'Mathematische Annalen'", ''The Mathematical Intelligencer'' 12 (1990), No.4, pp.&nbsp;17–31.
* Gaye Erginoz, "An Emigrant Scientist in Istanbul University: Richard Martin Edler von Mises (1883-1953)",2011, Almagest
* H. Föllmer and K. Küchler,  "Richard von Mises", in ''Mathematics in Berlin'', Berlin, 1998, pp.&nbsp;55–60.
* J. Förste,  "Zum 100. Geburtstag von Richard von Mises", ''Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik'' 63 (7), 1983, p.&nbsp;277.
* P. Frank,  "The work of Richard von Mises: 1883–1953", ''Science'' 119, 1954, pp.&nbsp;823–824.
* A. Haussner,  "Geschichte der Deutschen Technischen Hochschule in Brünn 1849–1924." In ''Festschrift der Deutschen Technischen Hochschule in Brünn zur Feier ihres fünfundsiebzigjährigen Bestandes im Mai 1924'', Verlag der Deutschen Technischen Hochschule, Brünn, 1924, pp.&nbsp;5–92.
* G. S. S. Ludford,  "Mechanics in the applied- mathematical world of von Mises", ''Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik'' 63 (7), 1983, pp.&nbsp;281–282.
* R. Sauer,  "Nachruf: Richard von Mises",  ''Bayer. Akad. Wiss. Jbuch.'' 1953, pp.&nbsp;194–197.
* R. Sauer,  "Richard von Mises 19. 4. 1883 – 14. 7. 1953" (in German), ''Bayer. Akad. Wiss. Jbuch.'' 1953, pp.&nbsp;194–197
* M. Schield and T. Burnham. "Von Mises’ Frequentist Approach to Probability."  2008 American Statistical Association Proceedings of the Section on Statistical Education.  pp. 2187-2194. See www.statlit.org/pdf/2008SchieldBurnhamASA.pdf
* R. Siegmund-Schultze, "Hilda Geiringer von Mises, Charlier Series, Ideology, and the human side of the emancipation of applied mathematics at the University of Berlin during the 1920s",  ''Historia Mathematica'' 20, 1993, 364–381.
* P. Sisma, "Georg Hamel and Richard von Mises in Brno", ''Historia Mathematica'', 29, 2002, pp.&nbsp;176–192.
* A. Szafarz,  "Richard von Mises: l'échec d'une axiomatique",  ''Dialectica'' 38 (4), 1984, pp.&nbsp;311–317.
* M. van Lambalgen,  "Randomness and foundations of probability: von Mises' axiomatisation of random sequences", in ''Statistics, probability and game theory'', Hayward, CA, 1996, pp.&nbsp;347–367.
* J. Weinhold,  "Zur Geschichte der Deutschen Technischen Hochschule in Brünn, Rückblicke und Vergleiche", Südetendeutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften und Künste,  ''Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse'', 1991.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Mises}}
* {{MathGenealogy|id=20745}}
* [http://www.math.muni.cz/math/biografie/richard_mises.html Biography, in Czech]

{{Authority control}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mises, Richard Edler Von}}
[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:Scientists from Lviv]]
[[Category:Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States]]
[[Category:Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe)]]
[[Category:Austrian mathematicians]]
[[Category:Austrian physicists]]
[[Category:Edlers of Austria]]
[[Category:Logical positivism]]
[[Category:Vienna Circle]]
[[Category:Austrian expatriates in Turkey]]
[[Category:Expatriate academics in Turkey]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Istanbul University]]
[[Category:Harvard University Department of Mathematics faculty]]
[[Category:Fluid dynamicists]]
[[Category:Aerodynamicists]]
[[Category:Probability theorists]]
[[Category:TU Wien alumni]]
[[Category:Mathematicians from Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:Academic staff of TU Dresden]]
[[Category:Mathematical statisticians]]