Leo Königsberger
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Leo Königsberger (15 October 1837 – 15 December 1921) was a German mathematician, and
historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesopo ...
. He is best known for his three-volume biography of
Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...
, which remains the standard reference on the subject. In 2018, a biography about Helmholtz was written by science historian David Cahan.


Biography

Königsberger was born in Posen (now
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
), the son of a successful merchant. He studied at the
University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
with
Karl Weierstrass Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass (german: link=no, Weierstraß ; 31 October 1815 – 19 February 1897) was a German mathematician often cited as the "father of modern analysis". Despite leaving university without a degree, he studied mathematics ...
, where he taught mathematics and physics (1860–64). He taught at the
University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...
(assistant professor, 1864–66; professor, 1866–69), the
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
(1869–75), the
Technische Universität Dresden TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...
(1875-77), and the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
(1877–84) before returning to Heidelberg in 1884, where remained until his retirement in 1914. In 1904 he was a Plenary Speaker of the ICM in Heidelberg. In 1919 he published his autobiography, ''Mein Leben'' ('My Life'). The biography of Helmholtz was published in 1902 and 1903. He also wrote a biography of C. G. J. Jacobi. Königsberger's own research was primarily on elliptic functions and
differential equation In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, an ...
s. He worked closely with Lazarus Fuchs, a childhood friend.


Selected publications


Vorlesungen über die Theorie der elliptischen Functionen, nebst einer Einleitung in die allgemeine Functionenlehre

Vorlesungen über die Theorie der hyperelliptischen Integrale
Teubner 1878
Project Gutenberg

Allgemeine Üntersuchungen aus der Theorie der Differentialgleichungen

Lehrbuch der Theorie der Differentialgleichungen mit einer unabhängigen Variabeln

Zur Geschichte der Theorie der elliptischen Transcendenten in den Jahren 1826–29
Teubner 1879
Project Gutenberg

Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
Teubner 1904. * * Mein Leben, Heidelberg 1919.
Erw. Ausgabe. Univ. Heidelberg 2015.


Notes


References

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External links

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Extended autobiography (in German) from the University of Heidelberg.
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koenigsberger, Leo 1837 births 1921 deaths Scientists from Poznań Converts to Lutheranism from Judaism 19th-century German mathematicians People from the Grand Duchy of Posen University of Greifswald faculty 20th-century German mathematicians Historians of science Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities