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Mathematical Treasure: Weierstrass on Elliptic Functions

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

Axel Harnack (1851-1888) was a German mathematician who distinguished himself in his contributions to potential theory and harmonic analysis. In 1887, he published notes from Karl Weierstrass’s 1882-83 series of lectures on applications of elliptic functions. Harnack died at age 36, probably from tuberculosis.

Title page of Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

Harnack included a table of contents for his set of notes, outlining the topics discussed.

Title page of First page of table of contents from Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

Second page of table of contents from Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

Third page of table of contents from Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

Fourth page of table of contents from Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

Some excerpts from “Chapter I” of the notes follow.

Page 1 from Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

Page 2 from Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

Page 3 from Axel Harnack's notes on lectures on elliptic functions by Weierstrass, 1887

The images above are supplied through the courtesy of the University of California Libraries and are available via the Internet Archive, where the identification of the volume as a work on potential functions is somewhat misleading.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Weierstrass on Elliptic Functions," Convergence (August 2018)