Jakob Steiner
| Jakob Steiner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
18 March 1796 Utzenstorf, Canton of Bern |
| Died | 1 April 1863 (aged 67) Bern |
| Citizenship | Swiss |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Known for | Poncelet–Steiner theorem |
Jakob Steiner (18 March 1796 – 1 April 1863) was a Swiss mathematician who worked primarily in geometry.
Steiner was born in the village of Utzenstorf, Canton of Bern. At 18, he became a pupil of Heinrich Pestalozzi and afterwards studied at Heidelberg. Then, he went to Berlin, earning a livelihood there, as in Heidelberg, by tutoring. Here he became acquainted with A. L. Crelle, who, encouraged by his ability and by that of N. H. Abel, then also staying at Berlin, founded his famous Journal (1826).
After Steiner's publication (1832) of his Systematische Entwickelungen he received, through C. G. J. Jacobi, who was then professor at Königsberg University, and earned an honorary degree there; and through the influence of Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi and of the brothers Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt a new chair of geometry was founded for him at Berlin (1834). This he occupied until his death in Bern on 1 April 1863.
He was described by Thomas Hirst as follows:
Steiner's mathematical work was mainly confined to geometry. This he treated synthetically, to the total exclusion of analysis, which he hated, and he is said to have considered it a disgrace to synthetic geometry if equal or higher results were obtained by analytical geometry methods. In his own field he surpassed all his contemporaries. His investigations are distinguished by their great generality, by the fertility of his resources, and by the rigour in his proofs. He has been considered the greatest pure geometer since Apollonius of Perga.
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