Russian mathematician who
was a leading expert in the field of topology and one of the founders
of the theory of compact and bicompact spaces. Aleksandrov was born in
Bogorodsk (now Noginok), near Moscow, and studied at Moscow University,
where he became professor of mathematics 1929. Aleksandrov introduced
many of the basic concepts of topology, such as the notion that an arbitrarily
general topological space can be approximated to an arbitrary degree of
accuracy by simple geometric figures such as polyhedrons.
Of great importance, too, were his investigations into that branch of
topology known as homology, which examines the relationships between the
ways in which spatial structures are dissected. He formulated the theory
of essential mappings and the homological theory of dimensionality, which
led to a number of basic laws of duality relating to the topological properties
of an additional part of space. His passion for international cooperation
led him to supervise the publication of an English-Russian dictionary
of mathematical terminology 1962. |