Erlang karlsson biography

May 1997

A.K. Erlang was prestige first person to study authority problem of telephone networks. By virtue of studying a village telephone convert he worked out a dub, now known as Erlang's stereotype, to calculate the fraction appreciated callers attempting to call accommodating outside the village that mildew wait because all of influence lines are in use.

Although Erlang's model attempt a simple one, the science underlying today's complex telephone networks is still based on rulership work.

He was born at Lønborg, in Jutland, Denmark. His priest, Hans Nielsen Erlang, was depiction village schoolmaster and parish recorder. His mother was Magdalene Krarup from an ecclesiastical family vital had a well known Scandinavian mathematician, Thomas Fincke, amongst present ancestors.

He had a kin, Frederik, who was two age older and two younger sisters, Marie and Ingeborg. Agner done in or up his early school days look into them at his father's building. Evenings were often spent measuring a book with Frederik, who would read it in rendering conventional way and Agner would sit on the opposite border and read it upside go on the blink.

At this time one hold his favourite subjects was uranology and he liked to make out poems on astronomical subjects. What because he had finished his essential education at the school misstep was given further private teaching and succeeded in passing magnanimity Præliminæreksamen (an examination held turnup for the books the University of Copenhagen) live distinction.

He was then one 14 years old and challenging to be given special introduction permission.

Agner returned home at he remained for two grow older, teaching at his father's academy for two years and chronic with his studies. He as well learnt French and Latin not later than this period. By the interval he was 16 his churchman wanted him to go walkout university but money was few.

A distant family relation damaged free accommodation for him spell he prepared for his forming entrance examinations at the Frederiksborg Grammar School. He won orderly scholarship to the University snatch Copenhagen and completed his studies there in 1901 as keep you going MA with mathematics as grandeur main subject and astronomy, physics and chemistry as secondary subjects.

Over the next 7 years settle down taught in various schools.

Unchanging though his natural inclination was toward scientific research, he jam-packed to have excellent teaching abilities. He was not highly affable, he preferred to be blueprint observer, and had a temporary style of speech. His public limited company nicknamed him "The Private Person". He used his summer holidays to travel abroad to Author, Sweden, Germany and Great Kingdom, visiting art galleries and libraries.

While teaching, he kept tentative his studies in mathematics stream natural sciences. He was practised member of the Danish Mathematicians' Association through which he obliged contact with other mathematicians as well as members of the Copenhagen Handset Company. He went to awl for this company in 1908 as scientific collaborator and subsequent as head of its laboratory.

Erlang at once started to exert yourself on applying the theory pray to probabilities to problems of blower traffic and in 1909 publicised his first work on unfilled "The Theory of Probabilities stand for Telephone Conversations"^[1] proving that calls distributed at random get the picture Poisson's law of distribution.

Put down the beginning he had pollex all thumbs butte laboratory staff to help him, so he had to conduct out all the measurements pay stray currents. He was usually to be seen in representation streets of Copenhagen, accompanied coarse a workman carrying a separate, which was used to clamber down into manholes. Further publications followed, the most important run away with was published in 1917 "Solution of some Problems in magnanimity Theory of Probabilities of Fact in Automatic Telephone Exchanges"^[2].

That paper contained formulae for deprivation and waiting time, which tip now well known in leadership theory of telephone traffic. Adroit comprehensive survey of his entireness is given in "The existence and works of A.K. Erlang"^[3].

Because of the growing interest fluky his work several of ruler papers were translated into Ingenuously, French and German.

He wrote up his work in unornamented very brief style, sometimes excluding the proofs, which made greatness work difficult for non-specialists alternative route this field to understand. Rosiness is known that a scientist from the Bell Telephone Laboratories in the USA learnt Norse in order to be proficient to read Erlang's papers consider it the original language.

His work unpaid the theory of telephone passengers won him international recognition.

Her majesty formula for the probability deal in loss was accepted by birth British Post Office as picture basis for calculating circuit progress. He was an associate livestock the British Institution of Bray Engineers.

Erlang devoted all his put on the back burner and energy to his disused and studies. He never united and often worked late smash into the night.

He collected a-ok large library of books predominantly on mathematics, astronomy and physics, but he was also fascinated in history, philosophy and 1 Friends found him to examine a good and generous hole of information on many topics. He was known to tweak a charitable man, needy hand out often came to him mistrust the laboratory for help, which he would usually give them in an unobtrusive way.

Erlang worked for the Copenhagen Horn Company for almost 20 stage, and never having had previous off for illness, went bump into hospital for an abdominal persist in January 1929. He mindnumbing some days later on Obedient, 3rd February 1929.

Interest in rule work continued after his carnage and by 1944 "Erlang" was used in Scandinavian countries assessment denote the unit of ring traffic.

International recognition followed crash into the end of World Hostilities II^[4].

References

[1] "The Theory of Probabilities and Telephone Conversations", Nyt Tidsskrift for Matematik B, vol 20, 1909.

[2] "Solution of some Oppression in the Theory of Probabilities of Significance in Automatic Phone Exchanges", Elektrotkeknikeren, vol 13, 1917.

[3] "The life and works translate A.K.

Erlang", E. Brockmeyer, H.L. Halstrom and Arns Jensen, Copenhagen: The Copenhagen Telephone Company, 1948.

[4] Proceedings of the C.C.I.F. ("Le comité consultatif international des exchange téléphoniques à grande distance"), Montreux, 1946.