# Andreas von Ettingshausen

Andreas von Ettingshausen

Andreas Freiherr von Ettingshausen (1796–1878)
Born 25 November 1796
Heidelberg, Electorate of the Palatinate
Died 25 May 1878
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Residence Austria
Nationality German
Fields Physicist and mathematician
Institutions University of Innsbruck
University of Vienna
Vienna Polytechnic Institute
Alma mater University of Vienna
Doctoral students Ernst Mach
Jožef Stefan
Viktor von Lang
Known for Electric machines

Andreas Freiherr von Ettingshausen (25 November 1796 – 25 May 1878) was a German mathematician and physicist.

Ettingshausen studied philosophy and jurisprudence in Vienna. In 1817, he joined the University of Vienna and taught mathematics and physics. In 1819 he became professor of physics at the University of Innsbruck and 1821 professor of higher mathematics at the University of Vienna. His lectures of that time marked a new era for the University of Vienna, and they were published in 1827 in 2 volumes. In 1834 Ettingshausen became the chair of physics.

Ettingshausen was the first to design an electromagnetic machine, which used the electrical induction for power generation. He promoted optics and wrote a text book of physics. His method of lecturing was widely influential. In addition he wrote a book on combinatorial analysis (Vienna 1826). In 1866, he retired.

Among his lasting impacts in mathematics is the introduction of the notation $\tbinom nk$ for the binomial coefficient, which is the coefficient of xk in the expansion of the binomial (x+1)n and, more generally, the number of k-element subsets of an n-element set.[1]

## References

1. ^ Nicholas J. Higham. Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. p. 25. ISBN 0-89871-420-6.