Martin Wilhelm Kutta (; 3 November 1867 – 25 December 1944) was a German

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. Kutta was born in

Pitschen Byczyna ( Latin: ''Bicina'', ''Bicinium''; german: Pitschen) is a town in Kluczbork County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,490 inhabitants as of December 2021. History The town of Byczyna was first mention in 1054 when it temporarily serve ...

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

(today

Byczyna Byczyna (Latin: ''Bicina'', ''Bicinium''; german: Pitschen) is a town in Kluczbork County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,490 inhabitants as of December 2021. History The town of Byczyna was first mention in 1054 when it temporarily served as ...

, Poland). He attended the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

from 1885 to 1890, and continued his studies in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

until 1894, where he became the assistant of

Walther Franz Anton von Dyck Walther Franz Anton von Dyck (6 December 1856 – 5 November 1934), born Dyck () and later ennobled, was a German mathematician. He is credited with being the first to define a mathematical group, in the modern sense in . He laid the foundation ...

. From 1898, he spent half a year at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. From 1899 to 1909 he worked again as an assistant of von Dyck in Munich; from 1909 to 1910 he was adjunct professor at the

Friedrich Schiller University Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The u ...

. He was professor at the

RWTH Aachen RWTH Aachen University (), also known as North Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Technical University of Aachen, University of Aachen, or ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hoch ...

from 1910 to 1912. Kutta became professor at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wi ...

in 1912, where he stayed until his retirement in 1935. In 1901, he co-developed the Runge–Kutta method, used to solve ordinary

differential equation In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, ...

s numerically. He is also remembered for the Zhukovsky–Kutta aerofoil, the Kutta–Zhukovsky theorem and the Kutta condition in

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...

. Kutta died in

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, located 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the Fürstenfeldbruck (district), district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it has a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s, Fürstenfeldbruck h ...

, Germany in 1944.

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* * 1867 births 1944 deaths 19th-century German mathematicians 20th-century German mathematicians Numerical analysts Aerodynamicists People from the Province of Silesia University of Breslau alumni University of Jena faculty University of Stuttgart faculty RWTH Aachen University faculty Fluid dynamicists People from Kluczbork County {{Germany-mathematician-stub