Karl Hermann Brunn (1 August 1862 – 20 September 1939) was a German

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, known for his work in

convex geometry In mathematics, convex geometry is the branch of geometry studying convex sets, mainly in Euclidean space. Convex sets occur naturally in many areas: computational geometry, convex analysis, discrete geometry, functional analysis, geometry of num ...

(see Brunn–Minkowski inequality) and in

knot theory In topology, knot theory is the study of knot (mathematics), mathematical knots. While inspired by knots which appear in daily life, such as those in shoelaces and rope, a mathematical knot differs in that the ends are joined so it cannot be und ...

Brunnian link In knot theory, a branch of topology, a Brunnian link is a nontrivial link that becomes a set of trivial unlinked circles if any one component is removed. In other words, cutting any loop frees all the other loops (so that no two loops can be ...

s are named after him, as his 1892 article "Über Verkettung" included examples of such links.

Life and work

Hermann Brunn was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and grew up in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He studied mathematics and physics at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, graduating in 1887 with the thesis ''Über Ovale und Eiflächen'' (About ovals and eggforms). He habilitated in 1889.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunn, Hermann German geometers 19th-century German mathematicians 20th-century German mathematicians 1939 deaths 1862 births People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Scientists from Munich Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Mathematicians from the German Empire