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Karl Weierstraß

Karl Weierstrass
Karl Weierstrass.jpg
Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass (Weierstraß)
Born (1815-10-31)31 October 1815
Ostenfelde, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia
Died 19 February 1897(1897-02-19) (aged 81)
Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia
Residence Germany
Nationality German
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Gewerbeinstitut
Alma mater University of Bonn
Münster Academy
Academic advisors Christoph Gudermann
Doctoral students Nikolai Bugaev
Georg Cantor
Georg Frobenius
Lazarus Fuchs
Wilhelm Killing
Leo Königsberger
Sofia Kovalevskaya
Mathias Lerch
Hans von Mangoldt
Eugen Netto
Adolf Piltz
Carl Runge
Arthur Schoenflies
Friedrich Schottky
Hermann Schwarz
Ludwig Stickelberger
Ernst Kötter
Known for Weierstrass function
(ε, δ)-definition of limit
Weierstrass–Erdmann condition

Bolzano–Weierstrass theorem
Notable awards PhD (Hon):
University of Königsberg (1854)
Copley Medal (1895)

Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass (German: 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 teacher, eventually teaching mathematics, physics, botany and gymnastics.

Weierstrass formalized the definition of the continuity of a function, proved the intermediate value theorem and the Bolzano–Weierstrass theorem, and used the latter to study the properties of continuous functions on closed bounded intervals.

Weierstrass was born in Ostenfelde, part of Ennigerloh, Province of Westphalia.

Weierstrass was the son of Wilhelm Weierstrass, a government official, and Theodora Vonderforst. His interest in mathematics began while he was a gymnasium student at the Theodorianum () in Paderborn. He was sent to the University of Bonn upon graduation to prepare for a government position. Because his studies were to be in the fields of law, economics, and finance, he was immediately in conflict with his hopes to study mathematics. He resolved the conflict by paying little heed to his planned course of study, but continued private study in mathematics. The outcome was to leave the university without a degree. After that he studied mathematics at the Münster Academy (which was even at this time very famous for mathematics) and his father was able to obtain a place for him in a teacher training school in Münster. Later he was certified as a teacher in that city. During this period of study, Weierstrass attended the lectures of Christoph Gudermann and became interested in elliptic functions.


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