356 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 13, 



SCIENTIFIC LITER A TUBE. 

 Nieoldi Ivdnovieh Lobachevsky.—Addi'ess pro- 

 nounced at the commemorative meeting 

 of the Imperial Universitj^ of Kasan, 

 October 22, 1893, by Professor A. Vasi- 

 LiEV, President of the Physico-Mathe- 

 matical Society of Kasan. — Translated 

 from the Russian, with a preface, by Db. 

 Geoege Beuce Halsted, President of 

 the Texas Academy of Science. — Volume 

 one of the neomonic series. — Published 

 at The Neomon, 2407 Guadalupe Street, 

 Austin, Texas, U. S. A. 1894. Sm. 8vo, 

 pp. 8+40+17. 



Within the last thirty years the name of 

 Lobachevsky has become widely known as 

 that of one of the earliest discoverers in the 

 field of non-Euclidean geometry, a subject 

 which has not only revolutionized geomet- 

 rical science, but has attracted the attention 

 of physicists, psychologists and philos- 

 ophers. 



Professor Vasiliev's life of Lobachevskj^, 

 which we welcome here in an English trans- 

 lation, is without question the best and 

 most authentic source of information on 

 this original mathematical thinker who 

 spent his whole life in a remote Russian 

 town, almost on the confines of civilization, 

 and whose work began to be appreciated by 

 the scientific world only after his death 

 (1856). What lends a peculiar interest to 

 the story of this uneventful life is its in- 

 timate association with the growth of the 

 University of Kazan . Lobachevsky entered 

 this university as a student soon after its 

 foundation, became, immediately after 

 graduation, an instructor, and then a pro- 

 fessor in it, was its president for nineteen 

 years during its formative period, and con- 

 tributed largely to its rise and progress 

 through his administrative ability and un- 

 tiring energy. Tliis man, who is known 

 abroad as an original investigator in one of 

 the most abstruse branches of mathematics, 

 endeared himself, moreover, to his towns- 



men in many respects as a progressive and 

 public-spirited citizen, delivering popular 

 lectures on scientific subjects, conducting 

 evening classes in elementary science for 

 workingmen, taking a most active part in 

 the work of the Kazan Economic and Agri- 

 cultural Society, and so on. 



It is due to these facts that the centen- 

 nial celebration held by the Phj'sico-Mathe- 

 matical Society of the Universitj^ of Kazan, 

 in 1893, in commemoration of his birth, 

 was participated in not only by professional 

 mathematicians, but also by the whole uni- 

 versity and the citizens of Kazan. It is for 

 this occasion that Professor VasiUev pre- 

 pared his biographjr. 



The celebration began with religious ser- 

 vices in the University chapel, on Loba- 

 chevsky's one hundredth birthday, Novem- 

 ber 3 (or, according to the old calendar still 

 used in Russia, October 22); at noon the 

 University Senate assembled in solemn ses- 

 sion, the foreign delegates were greeted by 

 the president of the university, letters and 

 telegrams of congratulation were read, and 

 several addresses were made commemora- 

 ting the life and work of the gi-eat Russian 

 geometer. On the next daji- the Physico- 

 Mathematical Society held a public session 

 for the reading of various papers on sub- 

 jects connected with non-Euclidean geome- 

 try. On the 5th of November the Munici- 

 pal Council of the city of Kazan dedicated 

 with appropriate ceremonies a memorial 

 tablet, inserted in the front wall of the 

 house in which Lobachevsky had lived. 

 Another meeting of the Physi co-Mathemati- 

 cal Society brought the celebration to a 

 close. A sum of several thousand rubles 

 had been collected in the course of the year 

 for the purpose of founding a Lobachevsky 

 medal or prize to be awarded annually, and 

 of erecting a bust of Lobachevsky at Ka- 

 zan, in the public square that bears his 

 name. 



It is well that this late justice should be 



