He completed high school studies at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1942. His study of Mathematics at Leiden University was delayed by a period in hiding to evade enforced labor during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. He completed a degree in Mathematics with a minor in Mechanics in 1952. From 1949 onwards, he was a scientific assistant to J. Haantjes.
From 1954 to 1957 he taught mathematics at the Delft high school 'Gemeentelijke Hogere Burgerschool HBS'.
In 1959 he completed his PhD thesis[1] at Leiden University. W. T. van Est acted as his supervisor, once the original supervisor J. Haantjes was deceased.
From 1967 to his retirement in 1989, he worked as a lecturer at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Amsterdam, teaching discrete mathematics and mathematics for students in Econometrics. Laman regarded himself mostly as a teacher. Clear thinking, as well as brevity in speech and writing, were his forte.
Laman is often credited with proving, in 1970,[2] that a particular family of sparse graphs, since named Laman graphs, are precisely those that are minimally generically rigid in the plane. This result, however, had already been proven by Hilda Geiringer back in 1927.[3]
Laman's original publication in 1970 went largely unnoticed at first. Only when Branko Grünbaum and G. C. Shephard wrote about Laman's paper in their Lectures on lost mathematics[4] did this work receive more attention.
Towards the end of his life, Laman worked to lift the original 'Laman graph' from its original two dimensions to three, inspired by a simple counterexample, the 'double banana graph'.[5]
Grünbaum, B.; Shephard, G.C. (1978), Lectures on lost mathematics, Lecture Notes, Univ. of Washington
Laman, G. (1959), On automorphisms of transformationgroups of polynomial algebras, Thesis, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, MR 0108508{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Laman, G. (1970), "On graphs and rigidity of plane skeletal structures", J. Engrg. Math., 4 (4): 331–340, Bibcode:1970JEnMa...4..331L, doi:10.1007/BF01534980, MR 0269535, S2CID 122631794
Owen, J.C.; Power, S.C. (2007), "The non-solvability by radicals of generic 3-connected planar Laman graphs", Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 359 (5): 2269–2303, doi:10.1090/S0002-9947-06-04049-9, MR 2276620
April 11, 2024
gerard, laman, august, 1924, september, 2009, dutch, mathematician, worked, graph, theory, contents, early, life, career, notes, referencesearly, life, edithe, completed, high, school, studies, stedelijk, gymnasium, leiden, 1942, study, mathematics, leiden, un. Gerard Laman August 22 1924 September 22 2009 was a Dutch mathematician who worked on graph theory Gerard Laman Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Career 2 Notes 3 ReferencesEarly life editHe completed high school studies at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1942 His study of Mathematics at Leiden University was delayed by a period in hiding to evade enforced labor during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands He completed a degree in Mathematics with a minor in Mechanics in 1952 From 1949 onwards he was a scientific assistant to J Haantjes He received private instruction in the combinatorial topology of fiber spaces in Brussels from G Hirsch of the Agricultural University of Ghent in 1953 During this period he received a stipend from the Dutch Belgian Cultural Accord From 1954 to 1957 he taught mathematics at the Delft high school Gemeentelijke Hogere Burgerschool HBS In 1959 he completed his PhD thesis 1 at Leiden University W T van Est acted as his supervisor once the original supervisor J Haantjes was deceased Career edit From 1957 to 1967 he worked as a lecturer at the Technische Hogeschool of Eindhoven now Eindhoven University of Technology From 1967 to his retirement in 1989 he worked as a lecturer at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Amsterdam teaching discrete mathematics and mathematics for students in Econometrics Laman regarded himself mostly as a teacher Clear thinking as well as brevity in speech and writing were his forte Laman is often credited with proving in 1970 2 that a particular family of sparse graphs since named Laman graphs are precisely those that are minimally generically rigid in the plane This result however had already been proven by Hilda Geiringer back in 1927 3 Laman s original publication in 1970 went largely unnoticed at first Only when Branko Grunbaum and G C Shephard wrote about Laman s paper in their Lectures on lost mathematics 4 did this work receive more attention Towards the end of his life Laman worked to lift the original Laman graph from its original two dimensions to three inspired by a simple counterexample the double banana graph 5 Notes edit Laman 1959 Laman 1970 Pollaczek Geiringer Hilda 1927 Uber die Gliederung ebener Fachwerke Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik 7 1 58 72 Bibcode 1927ZaMM 7 58P doi 10 1002 zamm 19270070107 Grunbaum amp Shephard 1978 Graver Servatius amp Servatius 1993 p 12 References editGraver J Servatius B Servatius H 1993 Combinatorial rigidity Graduate Studies in Mathematics vol 2 American Mathematical Society Providence RI MR 1251062 Grunbaum B Shephard G C 1978 Lectures on lost mathematics Lecture Notes Univ of Washington Laman G 1959 On automorphisms of transformationgroups of polynomial algebras Thesis Rijksuniversiteit Leiden MR 0108508 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Laman G 1970 On graphs and rigidity of plane skeletal structures J Engrg Math 4 4 331 340 Bibcode 1970JEnMa 4 331L doi 10 1007 BF01534980 MR 0269535 S2CID 122631794 Owen J C Power S C 2007 The non solvability by radicals of generic 3 connected planar Laman graphs Trans Amer Math Soc 359 5 2269 2303 doi 10 1090 S0002 9947 06 04049 9 MR 2276620 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gerard Laman amp oldid 1136647909, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
