From School Teacher to Professor
After leaving university without a degree, Weierstrass continued studying mathematics while training as a school teacher. He later received an honorary doctorate and became a professor of mathematics in Berlin.
Literature
Karl Weierstrass
Often cited as the father of modern analysis, Weierstrass formalized the definition of continuity and made important contributions to complex analysis.
Karl Weierstrass was a German mathematician who became a professor of mathematics in Berlin. He reached academia by an indirect route, leaving university without a degree, training as a school teacher and later receiving an honorary doctorate.
Worth knowing
Defining Continuity
Weierstrass formalized the definition of the continuity of a function and contributed to complex analysis.
A Broad Teaching Career
Before becoming a professor, Weierstrass taught mathematics, physics, botany and gymnastics.
Major Theorems
Weierstrass proved the intermediate value theorem and the Bolzano–Weierstrass theorem. He used the latter to study continuous functions on closed bounded intervals.
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