Leo Königsberger

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Leo Königsberger (October 15, 1837–December 15, 1921) was a German mathematician, and historian of science. He is best known for his three-volume biography of Hermann von Helmholtz, which remains the standard reference on the subject.

Königsberger was born in Posen (now in Poland), the son of a successful merchant. He studied at the University of Berlin with Karl Weierstrass. He taught at the University of Greifswald, the University of Heidelberg, the Technische Universität Dresden, and the University of Vienna before returning to Heidelberg in 1884, where remained until his retirement in 1914. In 1919 he published his autobiography, Mein Leben (My Life). The biography of Helmholtz was published in 1902 and 1903.

Königsberger's own research was primarily on elliptic functions and differential equations. He worked closely with Lazarus Fuchs, a childhood friend.

[edit] External links

• Biography from The Mathematics Genealogy Project.
• Mathematical publications from the University of Heidelberg.
• Complete text of autobiography (in German) from the University of Heidelberg.
• Publisher information for Herman von Helmholtz.