Person: Haupt, Otto
Otto Haupt was a German mathematician who specialised in geometry and real analysis.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Otto attended a Realschule in Würzburg for two years before entering the Royal New Gymnasium.
- This school, founded in 1886, was a humanistic school but it did not suit Haupt.
- The main teaching method in the school involved learning by rote and Haupt was highly critical of this method.
- Haupt looked through the 400-page book and saw a wealth of propositions and exercises that excited him.
- After four semesters at Würzburg, Haupt took the first set of the Bavarian state examinations required to become a secondary school teacher.
- After successfully completing these examinations, Haupt spent the winter semester of 1908-09 at the University of Berlin before returning to Würzburg.
- In October 1910 Haupt took the extremely difficult and extensive second set of Bavarian state examinations in mathematics and physics.
- Haupt chose to serve in the 2nd Train Battalion, a military unit that organised the transport of army materials.
- Haupt decided that the Train Battalion would give him plenty of free time which he wanted to use for mathematics research.
- Following his military service, Haupt said that he was "physically and mentally exhausted" but, following Hilb's advice, he applied for a Lamont-Stipend from the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.
- Haupt received an invitation from Adolf Krazer, a former student of Friedrich Prym, to become his assistant at the Technical University of Karlsruhe.
- Once Breslau heard that Haupt had the invitation from Karlsruhe, they tried to stop him leaving but Haupt decided that he would prefer to take up Krazer's offer at Karlsruhe.
- Every month the department held a "Mathematical Party" which Haupt really enjoyed.
- Haupt was involved from the day Germany mobilised.
- Haupt did not remain long at Karlsruhe for in 1920 he was appointed to a chair of mathematics at Rostock.
- This did not turn out well for Haupt who found the necessary tasks so arduous that he had hardly any time left to undertake research.
- After Max Noether retired, Heinrich Tietze had been appointed to his chair in 1919 so was already in post when Haupt took up his professorship.
- Max Noether had continued to live in Erlangen but died a few months after Haupt arrived there.
- Haupt often went for long walks with Emmy Noether and during these walks he learnt new groundbreaking ideas concerning algebra.
- This led to Haupt publishing a two-volume Einführung in die Algebra Ⓣ(Introduction to Algebra) in 1929.
- Haupt certainly played an important role in administration at the University of Erlangen.
- This was a jointly authored work but it would appear that it was mainly due to Haupt since it was described as "written by 0tto Haupt, assisted by Georg Aumann." A second edition, now entitled Differential- und Integralrechnung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung neueren Ergebnisse Ⓣ(Differential and integral calculus with special consideration of recent results), listed three authors, Haupt, Aumann and Christian Pauc.
- It was a revision by Haupt and Pauc of the original text and the three volumes were published in 1948, 1950 and 1955.
- A third edition, considerably rewritten, was entitled Einführung in die reelle Analysis Ⓣ(Introduction to Real Analysis) and had the two original authors, Haupt and Aumann.
- Furthermore, Haupt's "jog" was not on level ground but preferably on rough terrain on the slope of the Rathsberg and then it usually took place on the direct route.
- Haupt's wife, Edith, died in 1981.
- Haupt's friends could only admire the stamina and vigour that enabled him to open for himself still another period of his life.
- By the time he had reached the age of 100 years, Haupt was living in a retirement home in Bad Soder/Taunus, near Frankfurt.
Born 5 March 1887, Würzburg, Germany. Died 10 November 1988, Bad Soden, Germany.
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Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Germany
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
