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Mathematician

Karl Weierstrass

VY-er-shtrahss (German: [vy-er-shtrahs])
Modern

A German mathematician (1815 to 1897) often called the father of modern analysis. He rebuilt real and complex analysis on a rigorous logical foundation, formalizing continuity and limits, and in 1872 startled the Berlin Academy by exhibiting a continuous function with no derivative at any point, work now known as the Weierstrass function.

Facts
Birth Date
1815-10-31 1
Birth Year
1815 1
Death Date
1897-02-19 1
Death Year
1897 1
Birthplace
Ennigerloh, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia (present-day Germany) 1
Death Place
Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (present-day Germany) 1
Nationality / Culture
German 1
Defining Contribution
Rebuilt real and complex analysis on a rigorous epsilon-delta foundation, and in 1872 constructed the first published example of a continuous function that is nowhere differentiable, now called the Weierstrass function. 2
Notable Work
The Weierstrass function (presented to the Berlin Academy, 1872), a continuous function with no derivative at any point. 2
Award
Honorary doctorate, University of Konigsberg (1854); Fellow of the Royal Society (1881); Copley Medal, Royal Society (1895) 2
Biography
Gender
Male 1
Connections

Associated With

Weierstrass was Cantor's teacher in Berlin; no dedicated advisor/student relation type exists on this atlas at claim time (checked dbo.vRelationType), so this is recorded as a general association rather than an invented vocabulary item.

Source Karl Weierstrass, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)

In Branch

Source Karl Weierstrass, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)
Source Karl Weierstrass, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)

Proofs Credited

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Karl Weierstrass
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Infobox
    Died: 19 February 1897 (aged 81), Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
  • Lead section
    was a German mathematician often cited as the father of modern analysis
  • Lead section, IPA
    Weierstrass (German: Weierstrass)
  • Infobox, birth
    Born: 31 October 1815, Ennigerloh, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia
  • Lead section, gender reference
    Despite leaving university without a degree, he studied mathematics and trained as a school teacher, eventually teaching mathematics, physics, botany and gymnastics.
View the Source
2. Karl Weierstrass, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  • Opening summary
    Karl Weierstrass is best known for his construction of the theory of complex functions by means of power series.
  • Honours section
    The University of Konigsberg conferred an honorary doctor's degree on him on 31 March 1854.
  • Berlin period
    In 1872 his emphasis on rigour led him to discover a function that, although continuous, had no derivative at any point.
  • Associated With: Georg Cantor, Students section
    In 1870 Sofia Kovalevskaya came to Berlin and Weierstrass taught her privately since she was not allowed admission to the university.
View the Source

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