LINDEMANN, (CARL LOUIS) FERDINAND VON

born April 12, 1852, Hannover, Hanover died March 1, 1939, Munich, Ger. German mathematician who proved that the number p is transcendentali.e., it does not satisfy any algebraic equation with rational coefficients. This proof established that the classical Greek construction problem of squaring the circle (constructing a square with an area equal to that of a given circle) by compass and straightedge is insoluble. Lindemann became professor of mathematics at the University of Knigsberg, Ger. (now Kaliningrad, Russia), in 1883 and at the University of Munich in 1893. His work in mathematics was primarily in geometry and analysis. He published his famous proof in an article entitled ber die Zahl p (1882; Concerning the Number p).