About the Author
Thomas Hakon Gronwall was born in 1877 in Dylta Bruk in central Sweden. He received a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of Uppsala in 1896 and a Doctorate there in 1898; his area of study was mathematics. He then studied engineering in Berlin, where he received a degree from Charlottenburg Technische Hochschule in 1902. He practiced engineering in Europe until 1904, when he moved to America. After spending several years in various steel-related industries, he eventually returned to the study of pure mathematics, publishing over 80 papers. His various positions led him to the University of Chicago, Princeton University, war work at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and Washington, D. C., and Columbia University. His mathematical work, primarily in analysis, is noted not only for its contributions to classical topics such as series expansions, differential equations, and conformal mapping but for its breadth of application: physical chemistry, stress analysis, exterior ballistics, particle physics, operational calculus, optics and nomography were among the areas touched upon in his publications. He died in New York City in 1932.