Ernst Fiedler (22 July 1861 – 16 July 1954) was a German-born Swiss

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 ...

Life and work

Fiedler was the son of

Wilhelm Fiedler Otto Wilhelm Fiedler (3 April 1832 in Chemnitz – 19 November 1912 in Zurich) was a German-Swiss mathematician, known for his textbooks of geometry and his contributions to descriptive geometry. Life Fiedler was the son of a shoemaker. He wen ...

, mathematics professor at

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

from 1867. From 1879 to 1882 he studied mathematics at ETH Zurich; in 1882 he moved to Berlin where he studied under

Weierstrass Karl Theodor Wilhelm 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 and trained as a school t ...

Frobenius Frobenius is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ferdinand Georg Frobenius (1849–1917), mathematician ** Frobenius algebra ** Frobenius endomorphism ** Frobenius inner product ** Frobenius norm ** Frobenius method ** Frobenius g ...

and other outstanding mathematicians. In 1885 he moved to Leipzig, where he was awarded a doctorate under

Felix Klein Felix Christian Klein (; ; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and Mathematics education, mathematics educator, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and the associations betwe ...

in 1885. Returned to Zürich, he was ''privatdozent'' at ETH Zurich. In 1889 he was named full professor at the ''Industrieschule'' (in 1904 renamed as ''Oberrealschule'', and now ''

Kantonsschule Rämibühl The Kantonsschule Rämibühl at the Rämistrasse in Zurich, founded in 1832 as "Kantonsschule Zürich" consists of four ''Kantonsschulen'' (''Sekundarstufe I&II'') with different curricular profiles. The four schools, which are attended by mor ...

''). He was the principal of the school from 1904 to 1926 when he retired. Fiedler only produced some secondary school textbooks and any research paper. But he has left some lecture notes on courses given by his father and other professors like Weierstrass. He also joined the Swiss Army and became the youngest colonel in the army. From 1889 he lectured on ballistics at the Polytechnicum. He was also member of a number of committees to improve the secondary schools.

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Life and work

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