Gerrit Bol

For other uses, see Gerrit.

Gerrit Bol
File:Gerrit Bol.jpg Gerrit Bol in 1970
Born	(1906-05-29)29 May 1906 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died	21 February 1989(1989-02-21) (aged 82) Freiburg, West Germany
Citizenship	Netherlands
Alma mater	Leiden University, 1928
Known for	Bol loop, Bol's conjecture
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Leiden University, University of Hamburg, University of Freiburg
Doctoral advisor	Willem van der Woude
Doctoral students	Martin Barner

Gerrit Bol (May 29, 1906 – February 21, 1989) was a Dutch mathematician who specialized in geometry. He is known for introducing Bol loops in 1937, and Bol's conjecture on sextactic points.

Life

Bol earned his PhD in 1928 at Leiden University under Willem van der Woude. In the 1930s, he worked at the University of Hamburg on the geometry of webs under Wilhelm Blaschke and later projective differential geometry. In 1931 he earned a habilitation.

In 1933 Bol signed the Loyalty Oath of German Professors to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist State.

In 1942–1945 during World War II, Bol fought on the Dutch side, and was taken prisoner. On the authority of Blaschke, he was released. After the war, Bol became professor at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, until retirement there in 1971.

Works

Further information: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

References

• M. Barner, F. Flohr, Commemorating Gerrit Bol, Freiburg University leaves 104, 1989, pp. 10f.
• Hala Pflugfelder Orlik: Historical notes on loop theory, Commentationes Mathematicae Universitatis Carolinae 41, 2000, pp. 359–370

External links

• Literature by and about Gerrit Bol in the German National Library catalogue