Carl Wilhelm Borchardt (22 February 1817 – 27 June 1880) 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 ...

. Borchardt was born to a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish family in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. His father, Moritz, was a respected merchant, and his mother was Emma Heilborn. Borchardt studied under a number of tutors, including

Julius Plücker Julius Plücker (16 June 1801 – 22 May 1868) was a German mathematician and physicist. He made fundamental contributions to the field of analytical geometry and was a pioneer in the investigations of cathode rays that led eventually to the di ...

and

Jakob Steiner Jakob Steiner (18 March 1796 – 1 April 1863) was a Swiss mathematician who worked primarily in geometry. Life Steiner was born in the village of Utzenstorf, Canton of Bern. At 18, he became a pupil of Heinrich Pestalozzi and afterwards st ...

. He studied at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

under Lejeune Dirichlet in 1836 and at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

in 1839. In 1848 he began teaching at the University of Berlin. He did research in the area of the arithmetic-geometric mean, continuing work by

Gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; ; ; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician, astronomer, Geodesy, geodesist, and physicist, who contributed to many fields in mathematics and science. He was director of the Göttingen Observat ...

and

Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaKummer Kummer is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Bernhard Kummer (1897–1962), German Germanist * Clare Kummer (1873–1958), American composer, lyricist and playwright * Clarence Kummer (1899–1930), American jockey * Chris ...

on diagonalising symmetric

matrices Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to: Science and mathematics * Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions * Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form * Matrix (biology), the ...

, using

determinant In mathematics, the determinant is a Scalar (mathematics), scalar-valued function (mathematics), function of the entries of a square matrix. The determinant of a matrix is commonly denoted , , or . Its value characterizes some properties of the ...

s and Sturm functions. He was also an editor of ''

Crelle's Journal ''Crelle's Journal'', or just ''Crelle'', is the common name for a mathematics journal, the ''Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik'' (in English: ''Journal for Pure and Applied Mathematics''). History The journal was founded by A ...

'' from 1856 to 1880, during which time it was known as ''Borchardt's Journal''. He died in

Rüdersdorf Rüdersdorf is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany, near Berlin. It is served by the Schöneiche bei Berlin tramway which runs from Rüdersdorf through Schöneiche to Berlin-Friedr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His grave is preserved in the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

''Friedhof III der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde'' (Cemetery No. III of the congregations of

Jerusalem's Church Jerusalem Church () is one of the churches of the Prussian Union of Churches, Evangelical Congregation in the Friedrichstadt (under this name since 2001), a member of the Protestantism in Germany, Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Chu ...

and New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of

Hallesches Tor The Hallesches Tor was located in today's Berlin district Kreuzberg south of Mehringplatz. Today, as a historic monument listed Hallesches Tor (Berlin U-Bahn), underground station on the site of the former gate bears the name ''Hallesches Tor''. I ...

References

1817 births 1880 deaths Algebraists 19th-century German mathematicians 19th-century German Jews Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Mathematicians from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin University of Königsberg alumni Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities Mathematicians from the Kingdom of Prussia {{Germany-mathematician-stub

See also

References