Carl David Tolmé Runge (; 30 August 1856 – 3 January 1927) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
mathematician,
physicist, and
spectroscopist.
He was co-developer and co-
eponym of the
Runge–Kutta method (
German pronunciation: ), in the field of what is today known as
numerical analysis.
Life and work
Runge spent the first few years of his life in
Havana, where his father Julius Runge was the Danish consul. His mother was Fanny Schwartz Tolmé.
The family later moved to
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
, where his father died early (in 1864).
In 1880, he received his Ph.D. in mathematics at
Berlin, where he studied under
Karl Weierstrass. In 1886, he became a professor at the
Technische Hochschule Hannover in
Hanover,
Germany.
His interests included mathematics,
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
,
geodesy
Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...
, and
astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
. In addition to pure mathematics, he did experimental work studying
spectral lines of various elements (together with
Heinrich Kayser), and was very interested in the application of this work to
astronomical spectroscopy
Astronomical spectroscopy is the study of astronomy using the techniques of spectroscopy to measure the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, ultraviolet, X-ray, infrared and radio waves that radiate from stars and othe ...
.
In 1904, on the initiative of
Felix Klein he received a call to the
University of Göttingen, which he accepted. There he remained until his retirement in 1925.
Family
His daughter
Iris also became a mathematician and his son
Wilhelm was an early developer of radar. Another of his daughters, Nerina (Nina), married the mathematician
Richard Courant.
Honors
The crater
Runge Runge may refer to:
Locations
*Runge, Texas, a town, United States
*Runge (crater), a lunar crater Mare Smythii
Other uses
*Runge Newspapers, a newspaper chain in Ontario, Canada
*Inspector Heinrich Runge (though it is more often spelled a ...
on the
Moon is named after him.
The Schumann-Runge bands of molecular oxygen are named after him and Victor Schumann.
See also
*
Runge's law
*
Runge's method for
Diophantine equation
In mathematics, a Diophantine equation is an equation, typically a polynomial equation in two or more unknowns with integer coefficients, such that the only solutions of interest are the integer ones. A linear Diophantine equation equates to a c ...
s.
Works
Ueber die Krümmung, Torsion und geodätische Krümmung der auf einer Fläche gezogenen Curven(PhD dissertation, Friese, 1880)
Praxis der Gleichungen(G.J. Göschen, Leipzig, 1900)
*
Praxis der Gleichungen, zweite, verbesserte Auflage(W. de Gruyter, Berlin, 1921)
(B.G. Teubner, Leipzig, 1908)
(Columbia University Press, New York, 1912)
* Graphische Methoden (Teubner, 1912)
*
Graphische Methoden, dritte Auflage(Teubner, 1928)
Vektoranalysis(S. Hirzel, Leipzig, 1919)
*
Vector Analysis(Methuen & Co., London, 1923); translated from 1919 German original by H. Levy
* Carl Runge und Hermann König
Vorlesungen über numerisches Rechnen(Springer, Heidelberg, 1924)
Bibliography
*
*
Iris Runge
Iris Anna Runge (1 June 1888 – 27 January 1966) was a German applied mathematician and physicist.
Life and work
Iris Runge was the eldest of six children of mathematician Carl Runge. She started studying physics, mathematics, and geography ...
: ''Carl Runge und sein wissenschaftliches Werk'', Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1949.
References
External links
*
Biography*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Runge, Carl
1856 births
1927 deaths
University of Göttingen faculty
19th-century German mathematicians
19th-century German physicists
Numerical analysts
Scientists from Bremen
Spectroscopists
University of Hanover faculty
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
20th-century German mathematicians
20th-century German physicists