Sanford L. Segal

I reviewed a manuscript for Princeton University Press, and they rewarded me with my choice of $300 worth of their books, and this ($85!) book was one that I opted for. Although I'm a mathematician, I'd tended to be uninterested in, and therefore ignorant of, the history of math, and I was surprised to learn how many of the big names in math were faculty at German universities in the 1930s. Now I know which of those big names were enthusiastic Nazis, which were essentially apolitical, and which were Jewish. Only glimpses of the horror of Nazi policy towards Jews make it into the book, most notably the decision of Felix Hausdorff and his family to commit suicide as their fate at the hands of the Nazis became more and more certain. More often, the Nazis come across as incredibly officious busybodies, dictating in great detail the unbelievably stupid way they wanted German universities to be run.… (meer)