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Introduction
Iwillwriteaboutsomeone,whomyoumaynotknow,butwho
isabsolutelynoteworthy.Itisamathematician,HermannGünter
Grassman,borninSzczecinon15April1809(onthebirthdayof
theSwissmathematicianLeonhardEuler,asnotedbyGerman
historians).Grassmannfirstattendedaprivateschoolandthen
theintegratedRoyalandMunicipalGymnasiuminSzczecin
(atpresent:Liceumno.IX),inwhichhisfather,JustusGünter
(1779-1852),taughtmathematics,physicsanddrawing.In1827,
hecompletedaninterestingpaperonnumbertheory.Healso
wroteseveralpapersongeometry,whichwerelaterusedby
physicistsandastronomersintheconstructionoftheastronom-
icalandmeteorologicalclock.Hermann’smother,JohanneLuise
FriederikeMadewald,wasthedaughterofapastor.
Hermannwasthethirdchild,afterwhichtheGrassmannshad
anotherfivegirlsandfourboys.HisbrothersincludedGustaw,
RobertandJustus,withwhomHermannwouldworkinthefields
oflinguistics,physics,mathematicsandphilosophy.Influenced
bypastorZybbel,hedecidedtocommittotheologyandbecome
apastor.Atschool,hewouldnotshowaparticularinterestin
specificsubjects,hemainlylearnedplayingthepianoandthe
basicsofmusic.Hepassedhissecondaryschoolgraduationexam
on17September1827andon15October1827,onhisgraduation
day,hedeliveredalectureinLatin,Ontheimpactofthereign
ofAugustusonRomanliterature.Heachievedthesecondplace
intheschool’soverallranking.HewasgradedGoodinmathe-
matics.Thisshowsthathistalentandaptitudeinmathematics
hadnotawokenduringhissecondaryschoolperiod.
Afterhissecondaryschoolgraduationexam,heandhisolder
brotherGustawstartedtheirstudiesintheologyattheUniversity
inBerlin.Athome,hestudiedclassicalGreekauthors.Heattend-
edlecturesbydiferenttheologiansandparticularlyappreciated
NeanderandSchleismacher.HereadtheworksofPlato.In1829,
hetravelledtoVienna,Tirol,MunichandSwitzerland,tothe
Alps.Duringhisstudiesandlateron,whilestudyingtheworks
ofhisfather,heidentifiedtheneedforathoroughhealingand
purificationofthemathematicallanguage.
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