Karl Heinrich Gräffe

Karl Heinrich Gräffe (7 November 1799 – 2 December 1873) was a German mathematician, who was professor at University of Zurich.

Karl Heinrich Gräffe
Born(1799-11-07)November 7, 1799
Braunschweig, Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (now Germany)
DiedDecember 2, 1873(1873-12-02) (aged 74)
Zurich, Switzerland
Alma materUniversity of Göttingen
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsUniversity of Zurich
ThesisCommentatio historiam calculi variationum inde ab origine calculi differentialis atque integralis usque ad nostra tempora complectens (1825)
Doctoral advisorBernhard Thibaut

Life and work

Gräffe's father migrated to North America, leaving the family business of jewelry in his hands. Even so, Gräffe succeeded, studying at night, entering the Carolineum of Brunswick in 1821. From 1823, he studied at the University of Göttingen with professors Gauss and Thibaut, doctorate in 1825.[1]

In 1828 he was appointed professor of the Zurich Institute of Technology and, as of 1833, associate professor at the University of Zurich from the date of its creation. Simultaneously, also he was professor of the Obere Industrieschule.[2]

Gräffe is known for having been the first to enunciate a method to approximate the roots of any polynomial, a method known today as the Dandelin-Gräffe method.[3]

References
  1. Burckhardt 1964, p. 713.
  2. Frei & Stammbach 1994, p. 10.
  3. Ostrowski 1940, p. 157 and following.

Bibliography
  • Burckhardt, Johann Jakob (1964). "Gräffe, Karl Heinrich, mathematiker". Neue deutsche Biographie (in German). Gaál – Grasmann.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Frei, Günther; Stammbach, Urs (1994). Die Mathematiker an den Zürcher Hochschulen (in German). Springer. ISBN 978-3-7643-5078-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Ostrowski, Alexandre (1940). "Recherches sur la méthode de Graeffe et les zéros des polynomes et des séries de Laurent". Acta Mathematica (in French). 72 (1): 157–257. doi:10.1007/BF02546330. ISSN 0001-5962.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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