Arild Stubhaug is an acclaimed poet and biographer. Born in 1948 in Naustdal, Norway, he holds university degrees in mathematics, literature, and the history of religion. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Oslo. He made his literary debut in 1970 with a poetry book, and he has since published numerous collections of poetry and other important literary works. His biography Niels Henrik Abel and His Times: Called Too Soon from Flames Afar (published in English by Springer-Verlag, 2000) won the prestigious Brage Prize in Norway in 1996. This was followed by two other major works: The Mathematician Sophus Lie: It Was the Audacity of My Thinking (also published in English by Springer-Verlag, 2002), and a biography of the Norwegian writer Conrad Nicolai Schwach.

This is the very first biography of Sophus Lie, one of the great and influential mathematicians in the history of mathematics, written by A.Stubhaug, who is both a historian and a mathematician. As Arild Stubhaug's Abel biography, this book is a work of outstanding quality

I The Measure of a Life.- Tracking Him Down: A Torrent of Stories.- II Family Background and Upbringing.- The Family Tree.- The Priestly Family at Nordfjordeid.- Fathers Home in Moss.- III School and Education.- Nissens School. Examen Artium.- Student Life.- The Lack of a Calling.- IV In Tune with the Times.- Into Mathematical History.- There was a Mathematician in Him.- The First Tour Abroad.- Parliamentary Professor.- V Professor in Christiania.- My Inner Life Has Been Most Mighty.- My Lifes Good Fortune.- Marriage at Last.- Herr Professor mit seiner Gemahlin.- In the Lee of the Modern Breakthrough.- A Steady Stream of Works.- The Mathematical Milieu at Home and Abroad.- It is Lonely, Terribly Lonely.- Summoned to Leipzig.- VI Professor in Leipzig.- The Coming Period: A More Difficult Balancing Act.- In the Big City of Leipzig.- Breakdown.- Fame.- Conflicts.- Norwegian Students.- Back to Norway.- VII At the End of the Road.- The Final Years.- Appendices.- Chronology.- Notes and Commentaries.- Sophus Lies Descendants.- Chronological Bibliography of Sophus Lies Published Works.- Acknowledgements.- List of Literature.- Index of Names.