Korteweg

Diederik Johannes Korteweg

Born: 31 March 1848 in 'sHertogenbosch, Netherlands
Died: 10 May 1941 in Amsterdam, Netherlands

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Korteweg studied at the Polytechnical School at Delft. He originally intended to become an engineer but he turned to mathematics. He became a secondary school teacher, teaching in schools at Tilberg and Breda.

He then entered the University of Amsterdam, receiving a doctorate in 1878. He remained at Amsterdam becoming professor there in 1881. He held this post until he retired in 1918.

Korteweg's main work was in applied mathematics. His doctoral dissertation was on the velocity of wave propogation in elastic tubes. His subsequent work included work on electricity, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and further work on wave propagation.

He established a criterion for the stability of orbits of particles moving under a central force. He also studied a stationary wave in a rectangular canal.

His books studying Huygens contributed greatly to the history of mathematics. He was also the editor of Huygens complete works.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. L E J Brouwer, Diederik Johannes Korteweg, Euclides (Groningen) 17 (1941), 266-267. 
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