Steinhaus

Steinhaus is a German-language surname derived from Stein meaning “stone” and Haus meaning “house,” literally translating to “stone house.” It is a family name used in German- and Polish-language contexts and is associated with several individuals in science and academia.

The most notable bearer is Hugo Steinhaus (1887–1972), a Polish mathematician linked to the Lwów School of Mathematics. He made contributions to functional analysis, probability theory, and mathematical education, and his work helped shape modern analysis in Poland.

In mathematics, the name is also associated with Steinhaus’s theorem, a result in measure theory. The theorem states that if a set A in Euclidean space R^n has positive Lebesgue measure, then the difference set A − A contains a neighborhood of the origin. This result has had a lasting influence in additive combinatorics and geometric measure theory and has informed subsequent developments in real analysis.

Beyond Hugo Steinhaus, the surname appears in various contexts and may refer to different individuals across science, academia, and public life. As a family name of Germanic origin, Steinhaus has spread to multiple countries and cultures, including Poland.