Heinrich Martin Weber

Who was Heinrich Martin Weber?

Heinrich Martin Weber was a German mathematician. Weber's main work was in algebra, number theory, and analysis. He is best known for his text Lehrbuch der Algebra published in 1895 and much of it is his original research in algebra and number theory. His work Theorie der algebraischen Functionen einer Veränderlichen established an algebraic foundation for Riemann surfaces, allowing a purely algebraic formulation of the Riemann-Roch theorem. Weber's research papers were numerous, most of them appearing in Crelle's Journal or Mathematische Annalen. He was the editor of Riemann's collected works.

Weber was born in Heidelberg, Baden, and entered the University of Heidelberg in 1860. In 1866 he became a privatdozent, and in 1869 he was appointed as extraordinary professor at that school. Weber also taught in Zurich at the Federal Polytechnic Institute, today the ETH Zurich, at the University of Königsberg, and at the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg. His final post was at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Universität Straßburg, Alsace-Lorraine, where he died.

In 1895 and in 1904 he was president of the Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung. His doctoral students include Heinrich Brandt, E. V. Huntington, Louis Karpinski, and Friedrich Levi.