Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
By Tabetha Rhinehart
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi was a mathematician who founded the Jacobian Determinants that applies with the theory of epileptic functions. Carl was born on December 10 th , 1804 in Potsdam, Prussia (Germany). Simon Jacobi was a very prosperous banker that fathered three sons Moritz, Carl, and Edward, but also one daughter Therese. Moritz the oldest brother seeked a profession in physics and Edward followed in his father's footsteps and became a banker.
Carl at a young age was tutored by an uncle on his mother's side till the age of 12. As his twelfth birthday occurred he entered the Gymnasium in Potsdam. This secondary school in Germany was where he got his second education. In 1817 Carl was allowed to advance into his last year of school due to his brilliance. Jacobi at the age of thirteen had gained the necessary standard to get to the University of Berlin. Since Carl was only 13ish he was not allowed into the university because acceptance was at the age of 16. So from there he remained at the gymnasium till he was 16. After spending 2 years at the university he had decided to pursue his math carrier.
Between the years of 1823-1824 he passed exams to become a mathematics teacher. Now the only thing that stopped him from teaching was his religious affiliation. At the time in Prussia no Jew could teach, but in 1825 he changed his faith from Jewish to Christianity and began teaching at the university. When he started teaching he met Franz Newmann and Friedrich Bessel. Carl admired both of these men because they took him seriously. Carl worked endlessly on his theories and functions until he met Marie Schwinck. On the 11 th of September in 1831 they were married, and it wasn't until after they married that his work increased.
In 1841 Jacobi wrote a book “De determinantibus functionalibus” which he devoted to a specific determinant. The Jacobian Determinant stated that if a set of n functions in n variables are identically related then the Jacobian is identically zero, if not identically related then the Jacobian Determinant won't work. His entire work was devoted to this determinant relates to the epileptic functions.
Another 2 years would pass before Carl would be sent to Italy because of diabetes. When he attracted diabetes doctors ordered him to Italy, the reason was that the climate would help him get well. And get well he did, after a year in Italy he returned to Germany and returned to given lectures and teaching. Although the lectures decreased he never stopped teaching about math. In 1851 he contracted influenza and before he could reach full health he obtained smallpox and died 3 days later in Berlin. Jacobi was brilliant at a young age and was able to enter college at the age of 12, which is one of his oddities.