Arthur Wieferich

Who was Arthur Wieferich?

Arthur Josef Alwin Wieferich was a German mathematician and teacher, remembered for his work on number theory.

He was born in Münster, attended the University of Münster and then worked widely as a school teacher and tutor until his retirement in 1949. He married in 1916 and had no children.

Wieferich abandoned his studies after his graduation and did not publish any paper after 1909. His mathematical reputation is founded on five papers he published while a student at Münster:

"Beweis des Satzes, daß sich eine jede ganze Zahl als Summe von höchstens neun positiven Kuben darstellen lässt", Mathematische Annalen 66, 1908: 95–101, doi:10.1007/BF01450913.

"Über die Darstellung der Zahlen als Summen von Biquadraten", Mathematische Annalen 66, 1908: 106–108, doi:10.1007/BF01450915.

"Zur Darstellung der Zahlen als Summen von fünften und siebenten Potenzen positiver ganzer Zahlen", Mathematische Annalen 67, 1909: 61–75, doi:10.1007/BF01451870.

"Zum letzten Fermat'schen Theorem", Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik 136, 1909: 293–302, doi:10.1515/crll.1909.136.293.