Pure mathematics applied in early twentieth-century America: the case of T.H. Gronwall, consulting mathematician (Q2568468)

The paper fills a major lacuna in the historiography of mathematics as it points to industrial mathematics and mathematical counseling for the government, and to the exceptional but important existence of mathematically highly qualified personnel outside traditional academic institutions. This is done for the case of the Swedish-American mathematician T. H. Gronwall (1877--1932) who is well-known for his work in univalent function theory, number theory and differential equations. Gronwall's work in applied mathematics, however, escaped almost the attention of historians, obviously partly due to idiosyncracies of his character which did not allow him to have a permanent academic position. The author discusses seminal work by Gronwall in nomography, elasticity (stress distributions), ballistic equations, mathematical tools of physical chemistry (Debye-Hueckel theory), and mathematical analysis of electricity (special functions and Neumann integral). Indirectly, the well researched paper, which is partly relying on unpublished archival material, reveals much about the underdeveloped state of applied mathematics in academic surroundings in the first decades of the 20th century, showing that influential American mathematicians such as O. Veblen and G. D. Birkhoff tried in vain to help Gronwall and did not, for instance, manage to get him elected in the National Academy of Sciences. The European (Swedish) background of Gronwall's mathematical education also seems to have played against his early recognition. The fact that other exceptional figures of American applied mathematics at that time such as H. Bateman, W. A. Shewhart and V. Bush are not mentioned only points to the still existing need to follow the path opened by this paper, which is concluded by an extensive bibliography.