Hjelmslev's geometry of reality (Q2034538)

Danish mathematician Johannes Trolle Hjelmslev was born Johannes Petersen in 1873 in Hørning and died in Kopenhagen in the year 1950. He became professor of descriptive geometry at the Polyteknisk Laereanstalt Copenhagen in 1905 and from 1917 on professor at the University of Copenhagen. He is known mainly for his work in geometry. In the very readable work under review, the author thoroughly researches Hjelmslev's development of a `geometry of reality' which he imagined as an alternative to Euclidean geometry. Based more on practical experience of drawing practice and intuition than on an axiomatic system he used his geometry didactically for teaching in schools but also developed it into a scientific alternative to the geometry of Euclid. The author succeeds in following the development of Hjelmslev's geometry in very much detail and reveals his precursors as well as his followers. Also, Hjelmslev's opinions on other branches of geometry are investigated so that a well-rounded picture of Hjelmslev's work in the first half of the 20th century emerges.