Theodor Spieker

Theodor Spieker (1823–1913) was a German mathematician, a teacher at a gymnasium in Potsdam.[1]

Spieker's geometry textbook Lehrbuch der ebenen Geometrie mit Übungs-Aufgaben für höhere Lehranstalten (Verlag von August Stein, Potsdam, 1862)[2][3] was republished in many editions. A copy of this textbook was given to Albert Einstein by his tutor when Einstein was twelve, and quickly led Einstein to become interested in higher mathematics.[4]

Spieker is the namesake of the Spieker circle of a triangle (the circle inscribed in its medial triangle) and the Spieker center (the center of the Spieker circle).

References

  1. Embacher, Franz (2008), "Die Schwerpunkte des Dreiecks", Mathematische Semesterberichte 55 (2): 131–148, doi:10.1007/s00591-008-0040-8.
  2. Worldcat entry for Lehrbuch der ebenen Geometrie, accessed 2012-05-05.
  3. Lehrbuch der ebenen Geometrie mit Übungs-Aufgaben für höhere Lehranstalten (1898 ed.) on Google Books, accessed 2012-05-05.
  4. Clark, Ronald W. (1984), Einstein: The Life and Times, HarperCollins, p. 34, ISBN 9780380011599.