Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung im Spannungsfeld von Maß- und Häufigkeitstheorie -- Leben und Werk des ``Deutschen'' Mathematikers Erhard Tornier (1894-1982) (Q1265764)

The author describes the life and work of Tornier showing his mathematics as a `vermittelndes Element' between the axiomatic and the frequentist theories of probability. His direct work only lasted for ten years (1929--1939) after which he was retired because of unbecoming private behaviour (apparently caused by bad psychological health), but later on (when exactly?) Tornier corresponded with Hilda Geiringer, the assistant and wife of von Mises, and influenced the posthumous edition (1964) of Mises' treatise prepared by her. From 1932 Tornier was a card-carrying Nazi. He was instrumental in ousting Feller from Kiel University (1933), and, in 1936, he publicly contrasted applicable theories with `judisch-liberalistischer Vernebelung' achieved by `logisch geschlossener' constructions. Khinchin (1964, posthumous publication) believed that Tornier, by partly abandoning the irregularity of Mises' Kollektiv, saved the frequentist theory, but still left it inexpedient as compared with the axiomatic theory.