Heinrich Friedrich Karl Ludwig Burkhardt (15 October 1861 – 2 November 1914) 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 ...

. He famously was one of the two examiners of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

's PhD thesis ''Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen''. Of Einstein's thesis he stated: "The mode of treatment demonstrates fundamental mastery of the relevant mathematical methods" and "What I checked, I found to be correct without exception."Expert Opinion by Alfred Kleiner and Heinrich Burkhardt on Einstein's Dissertation (Zurich, 22-23 July 1905)
collected in Volume 5: The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902-1914 (English translation supplement) Page 22.

Biography

Burkhardt was born in

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

. Starting from 1879 he studied under

Karl 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 ...

Alexander von Brill Alexander Wilhelm von Brill (20 September 1842 – 18 June 1935) was a German mathematician. Biography Born in Darmstadt, Hesse, Brill was educated at the University of Giessen, where he earned his doctorate under supervision of Alfred Clebsch. ...

, and Hermann Amandus Schwarz at 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 ...

, at the

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

in Munich (now

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

), 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 ...

and at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. He attained a doctorate in 1886 in Munich under Gustav Conrad Bauer with a thesis entitled: ''Beziehungen zwischen der Invariantentheorie und der Theorie algebraischer Integrale und ihrer Umkehrungen'' (Relations between the invariant theory and the theory of algebraic integrals and their inverses). In 1887, he was an assistant at

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

and obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

there in 1889. Later, he was a professor in Zürich (1897–1908) and Munich (since October 1908). He worked on the theory of the elliptical functions,

series expansion In mathematics, a series expansion is a technique that expresses a Function (mathematics), function as an infinite sum, or Series (mathematics), series, of simpler functions. It is a method for calculating a Function (mathematics), function that ...

group theory In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ( ...

, the Burkhardt quartic, and history of mathematics. He died in Neuwittelsbach/

München 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 ...

, of a disease of the stomach, diagnosed about Easter 1914.

Works

* 1899
Elliptische Funktionen, zweiter Tiel
from Internet Archive * 1903
Algebraische Analysis
from Internet Archive * 1908
Entwicklungen nach oscillierenden Funktionen und Integration der Differentialgleichungen der mathematischen physick
* 1913
Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable
translated by S.E. Rasor, link from

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

References

External links

* * * *
Einstein's dissertation

Heinrich Liebmann „Zur Erinnerung an Heinrich Burkhardt“, Jahresbericht DMV Bd.24, 1915, S.185-195
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burkhardt, Heinrich Friedrich Karl Ludwig 19th-century German mathematicians 20th-century German mathematicians German historians of mathematics Technical University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich 1861 births 1914 deaths People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Mathematicians from the German Empire

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links