Collaborations of Hungarian Mathematicians

Abstract

This paper focuses on the collaborative partnerships of Hungarian mathematicians in the first half of the twentieth century. They were pioneers in collaboration, an intellectual practice that has become widespread during the last fifty years. Hungarian mathematicians starting with the Bolyais, father and son, worked closely together in co-constructing new knowledge and in supporting each other in developing innovative approaches to mathematics. In the literature Paul Erdős' extraordinary range of jointly authored papers is celebrated by the use of the “Erdős Numbers”. This paper discusses different patterns of collaboration and uses as illustration the partnerships of von Neumann and Morgenstern; and Polya and Szegő. These collaborative partners developed interesting working methods including using different languages for conversation and for writing. Their accounts of their shared activities include key aspects of collaboration including mentorship, complementary skills, domains of expertise, the role of...