Johann Friedrich Pfaff

Johann Friedrich Pfaff
Johann Friedrich Pfaff
Born	December 22, 1765(1765-12-22) Stuttgart, Germany
Died	April 21, 1825(1825-04-21) (aged 59) Halle, Germany
Residence	Germany
Nationality	German
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	University of Helmstedt Halle University
Alma mater	University of Göttingen
Doctoral advisor	Abraham Kästner
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 Kästner, and became the precursor of the German school of mathematical 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 his student.

See also

• Pfaffian

External links

• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Johann Friedrich Pfaff", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews, http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Pfaff.html .
• Johann Friedrich Pfaff at the Mathematics Genealogy Project.