Ernst Peschl
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ernst Ferdinand Peschl (1 September 1906 – 9 June 1986) was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
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 ...
.


Early life

Ernst Peschl came from a family of brewery owners. He was born to Eduard Ferdinand Peschl and his wife, Ulla (née Adler) in 1906.


Education and academic appointments

After finishing secondary school in 1925 in
Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...
, Peschl started studying
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
, and
astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
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 received his doctorate in 1931 from the
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 ...
under the supervision of
Constantin Carathéodory Constantin Carathéodory (; 13 September 1873 – 2 February 1950) was a Greeks, Greek mathematician who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He made significant contributions to real and complex analysis, the calculus of variations, ...
with a dissertation titled ''Über die Krümmung von Niveaukurven bei der konformen Abbildung einfachzusammenhängender Gebiete auf das Innere eines Kreises; eine Verallgemeinerung eines Satzes von E. Study'' ("On the curvature of level curves of the conformal mapping of simply connected domains to the interior of a circle: A generalization of a theorem of
Eduard Study Christian Hugo Eduard Study ( ; 23 March 1862 – 6 January 1930) was a German mathematician known for work on invariant theory of ternary forms (1889) and for the study of spherical trigonometry. He is also known for contributions to space geome ...
"). This was followed by some years spent working as an assistant with
Robert König Robert Johann Maria König (11 April 1885, Linz – 9 July 1979, Munich) was an Austrian mathematician. He studied from 1903 to 1907 at the University of Vienna and at the University of Göttingen, where he received his PhD under David Hilb ...
in
Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...
and
Heinrich Behnke Heinrich Adolph Louis Behnke (9 October 1898 in Horn – 10 October 1979 in Münster) was a German mathematician and rector at the University of Münster. Life and career He was born into a Lutheran family in Horn, a suburb of Hamburg. He att ...
in
Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
. He habilitated in 1935 at the
University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...
. Peschl took up a visiting professorship at the
University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
in 1938, and was subsequently promoted to extraordinary professor there. Under pressure Peschl became a member of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
and the paramilitary ''
Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...
'', but he avoided any activity within either organization and ended SA service after a year. From 1941 to 1943, he served as a
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
interpreter for the ''
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
''. From 1943 to 1945, he worked at the German Aviation Research Institute in Brunswick, which exempted him from further military service during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After the war Peschl became the director of the Institute of Mathematics in
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
, and in 1948 he became a full professor there. He promoted applied mathematics and established the Institute for Instrumental Mathematics in Bonn which evolved into the Society for Mathematics and Data Processing. He led the Society with
Heinz Unger Heinz Unger (14 December 1895 – 25 February 1965Heinz Unger
''The Canadian Encyclopedia' ...
from 1969 to 1974.


Work

Ernst Peschl's main areas of research were geometric
complex analysis Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic ...
,
partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to how ...
, and the theory of functions of
several complex variables The theory of functions of several complex variables is the branch of mathematics dealing with functions defined on the complex coordinate space \mathbb C^n, that is, -tuples of complex numbers. The name of the field dealing with the properties ...
. Peschl was the doctoral advisor of
Claus Müller Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German, Danish, and Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Claus von Amsberg, Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (1926–2002) * Claus-Casimir of Oran ...
, Friedhelm Erwe, Karl Wilhelm Bauer,
Bernhard Korte Bernhard H. Korte (3 November 1938 – 26 April 2025) was a German computer scientist, a professor at the University of Bonn and an expert in combinatorial optimization. Biography Korte earned his doctorate ( Doctor rerum naturalium) from the U ...
, Stephan Ruscheweyh, and Karl-Joachim Wirths, among others. Peschl received an honorary doctorate from the
University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...
in 1969 and another honorary doctorate from the
University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...
in 1982. For his fruitful collaboration with French mathematicians, the French government awarded him an '' Officier des Palmes Académiques'' in 1975. Peschl was a regular member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, the Bavarian and
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...
Academies of Sciences and a corresponding member of the ''Académie des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'' in Toulouse. He was awarded the
Pierre Fermat Pierre de Fermat (; ; 17 August 1601 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his d ...
Medal and the Medal of the
University of Jyväskylä A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". U ...
,
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, in 1965.


Personal life

Peschl married Maria Stein, a physician, in 1940, and had one daughter, Gisela.


Publications


''Über die Krümmung von Niveaukurven bei der konformen Abbildung einfachzusammenhängender Gebiete auf das Innere eines Kreises. Eine Verallgemeinerung eines Satzes von E. Study''
("On the curvature of level curves of the conformal mapping of simply connected domains to the interior of a circle: A generalization of a theorem of Eduard Study"), ''
Mathematische Annalen ''Mathematische Annalen'' (abbreviated as ''Math. Ann.'' or, formerly, ''Math. Annal.'') is a German mathematical research journal founded in 1868 by Alfred Clebsch and Carl Neumann. Subsequent managing editors were Felix Klein, David Hilbert, ...
'' 106, 1932, pp. 574–594
''Zur Theorie der schlichten Funktionen''
("On the theory of
schlicht function In complex analysis, de Branges's theorem, or the Bieberbach conjecture, is a theorem that gives a necessary condition on a holomorphic function in order for it to map the unit disc, open unit disk of the complex plane injectively to the complex pl ...
s"),
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 ...
176, 1937, pp. 61–94
''Über den Cartan-Carathéodoryschen Eindeutigkeitssatz''
("On the Cartan-Carathéodory uniqueness theorem"), Mathematische Annalen 119, 1943, pp. 131–139 * ''Analytische Geometrie'' ("Analytic geometry"), ''Bibliographisches Institut'' ("Bibliographical Institute"), Mannheim 1961 * ''Funktionentheorie'' ("Complex analysis"), ''Bibliographisches Institut'', Mannheim 1967 * ''Differentialgeometrie'' ("Differential geometry"), ''Bibliographisches Institut'', Mannheim 1973,


Footnotes


Further reading

* * Sanford L. Segal,
Ernst Peschl
'. In ''Mathematicians under the Nazis'', Princeton University Press, 2003, p. 461
Ernst Peschl's obituary
In ''Österreichische Mathematische Gesellschaft'', and International Mathematical Union. ''International mathematical news''. No. 144, February 1987


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peschl, Ernst German mathematical analysts 20th-century German mathematicians 1906 births 1986 deaths People from Passau Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the University of Jena Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany