Pólya, George (1887–1985)

Hungarian mathematician who worked on function theory, probability, and applied mathematics. Pólya's theorem (1920) is a solution of a problem in combinatorial analysis theory and method.

Pólya was born in Budapest and studied at the Eötvös Lorand University. From 1914 he lectured at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, becoming professor in 1928. In 1940 he emigrated to the USA, ending his career at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, 1946–53.

Pólya published studies on analytical functions in 1924 and on algebraic functions in 1927. He also worked on linear homogeneous differential equations (1924) and transcendental equations (1930). One of his studies in mathematical physics was an investigation into heat propagation (1931).

Other subjects he examined included the study of complex variables, polynomials, and number theory.