Johann Friedrich Pfaff
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| Johann Friedrich Pfaff | |
 Johann Friedrich Pfaff
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| Born | December 22, 1765 Stuttgart, Germany |
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| Died | April 21, 1825 (aged 59) Halle, Germany |
| Residence | Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Helmstedt Halle University |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen |
| Doctoral advisor | Abraham Kaestner |
| Doctoral students | Carl Friedrich Gauss August Möbius |
| Known for | Pfaffians |
Johann Friedrich Pfaff (sometimes spelled Friederich; born Stuttgart, 22 December 1765, died Halle, 21 April 1825) was a German mathematician. He was described as one of Germany's most eminent mathematicians during the 19th century. He studied integral calculus, and is noted for his work on partial differential equations of the first order (Pfaffian systems as they are now called) which became part of the theory of differential forms; and as Carl Friedrich Gauss's formal research supervisor.
Pfaff was a student of Abraham Kaestner, and became the precursor of the German school of mathematic thinking, which under Gauss and his followers largely determined the lines on which mathematics developed during the nineteenth century. He knew Gauss well, when they both lived together in Helmstedt in 1798. August Möbius was later a student of his.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Johann Friedrich Pfaff", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
- Johann Friedrich Pfaff at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
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