List of second-generation mathematicians

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Math ability is passed from parent to child with the most famous example being the Bernoulli family. This second generation phenomenon also holds in physics but in that field the Nobel Prize in Physics gives a tool for tracking it, since it has been given out for more than 120 years, and there are on average more than two Nobel Prizes in Physics given each year. There is no comparable award in mathematics but perusing (for example) the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive list of biographies enables the construction of a similar list of notable two-generation pairs of mathematicians.

The following is a list of parent-child pairs who both made contributions to mathematics significant enough to be noted in the citation for a prestigious prize, in an obituary in a major math journal, or in a similarly authoritative source. All are father-son except for Emmy Noether, Marie-Hélène Schwartz and Cathleen Morawetz. The list is in chronological order by birth date of the parent.

List

ParentContributions RecognitionChildContributions Recognition
Johann BernoulliL'Hôpital's rule
Catenary
Brachistochrone curve 		Daniel BernoulliBernoulli's principle
Gamma function
Jacopo RiccatiRiccati equation Vincenzo RiccatiIntroduction of hyperbolic functions
Giulio Carlo de' Toschi di FagnanoDiscovery of addition and multiplication
formulas for arcs of lemniscate 		Giovanni FagnanoFagnano's problem
Farkas BolyaiWallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem János Bolyai Non-Euclidean geometry
Elie CartanStructure of Lie groups
Exterior algebra
Moving frame		 Leconte Prize
Lobachevsky Prize		 Henri CartanCartan's theorems A and B
Projective module		 Émile Picard Medal
Wolf Prize
Max NoetherBrill–Noether theory
Noether's formula
Noether inequality		 Obituary in Proceedings of the LMS Emmy NoetherNoether's theorem
Noetherian Property		 Obituary Letter in New York Times
Frank MorleyMorley's trisector theorem Obituary in Nature Frank Vigor MorleyInversive Geometry (1933)
Stanisław ZarembaMathematical analysis Stanisław Krystyn ZarembaLow-discrepancy sequences
George David Birkhoff Ergodic Theorem Bocher Memorial Prize Garrett BirkhoffUniversal algebra George David Birkhoff Prize
Paul Lévy Lévy process Émile Picard Medal Marie-Hélène Schwartz Tribute in La Gazette des mathématiciens
J. L. SyngeSynge's theorem Boyle Medal
Henry Marshall Tory Medal 		Cathleen Morawetz

Equations of mixed type
Local energy decay

 Leroy P. Steele Prize
Emil ArtinSolved Hilbert's 17th problem
Partially solved Hilbert's 9th problem		 Obituary in the Bulletin of the AMS Michael ArtinArtin approximation theorem
Algebraic spaces		 Leroy P. Steele Prize
Wolf Prize
Petr NovikovWord problem for groups Lenin Prize Sergei NovikovAdams–Novikov spectral sequence
Surgery theory		 Fields Medal
Magnus HestenesOptimal control Guggenheim Fellowship David HestenesSpacetime algebra Oersted Medal (2002)
Bernhard NeumannPartial operations in universal algebra Adams Prize Peter M. NeumannSolution of Alhazen's problem Senior Whitehead Prize
David Crighton Medal
David MilmanKrein–Milman theorem Obituary in Integral Equations and Operator Theory Vitali MilmanWork in geometric measure theory
Concentration of measure		 Israel Prize in mathematics
Sixto RiosDecision theory Bachelor's Degree Extraordinary Award David Rios InsuaBayesian inference Peccei Award (IIASA)
David George Kendall

Statistical shape analysis

 Fellow of the Royal Society Wilfrid KendallWork in Stochastic geometry
President of the Bernoulli Society (2013–2015)
Jacques-Louis Lions

Lions–Magenes lemma

 John von Neumann Prize
Japan Prize		 Pierre-Louis LionsViscosity solution Fields Medal
Takashi OnoNumber theory
Algebraic groups		 Memorial tribute in Notices of the AMS Ken OnoNumber theory Presidential Early Career Award
for Scientists and Engineers
Joram Lindenstrauss

Johnson–Lindenstrauss lemma

 Israel Prize
Stefan Banach Medal		 Elon LindenstraussMajor advance on Littlewood conjecture Fields Medal

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Parents' math skills 'rub off' on their children". Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  2. ↑ "The Bountiful Bernoullis of Basel". 6 October 2020. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  3. ↑ "4 Father-Son Nobel Prize Winners In Physics". Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  4. ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Physics". Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  5. ↑ "No Nobel Prize for Math". 2 March 2001. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  6. ↑ "MacTutor". Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  7. ↑ Macaulay.Richmond, Francis Sowerby (1923). "Max Neother". Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. s2-21 (1): xxxvii–xlii. doi:10.1112/plms/s2-21.1.1-v.
  8. ↑ Einstein, Albert (4 May 1935). "The Late Emmy Noether". New York Times.
  9. ↑ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F. "Emmy Noether, NY Times obituary by Albert Einstein". MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. Retrieved November 14, 2026.
  10. ↑ Richmond, Herbert (November 1937). "Prof. Frank Morley". Nature. 140: 880. doi:10.1038/140880a0.
  11. ↑ "Hommage à Marie-Hélène Schwartz". Gazette des Mathematiciens. 138. Société Mathématique de France. October 2013..
  12. ↑ "2004 Steele Prizes" (PDF). Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 51 (4): 424. April 2004.
  13. ↑ Brauer, Richard (January 1967). "Emil Artin". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 73 (1). Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society: 27--43..
  14. ↑ Gohberg, I.; Livšic, M.S.; Piatetski-Shapiro, I. (January 1986). "David Milman (1912–1982)". Integral Equations and Operator Theory. 9: ii-7. doi:10.1007/BF01257057.
  15. ↑ Conrad, Brian; Ono, Ken; Tsimerman, Jacob (August 2026). "A Legacy in Number Theory: A Tribute to Takashi Ono". Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 19 (7). Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society: 553--557.