Ernst Meissel

Daniel Friedrich Ernst chisel ( born July 31, 1826 in Eberswalde, Brandenburg, † March 11, 1895 in Kiel ) was a German astronomer and mathematician.

Chisels attended the Friedrich- Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Berlin and studied after high school in 1847 mathematics at the Humboldt University of Berlin under Carl Gustav Jacobi and Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet. In 1850 he was in Hall PhD ( De serie quaedam Jacobiana ), but continued studying in Berlin for the state exam as a teacher. In 1852 he became a teacher at the Mining Academy in Berlin and also taught at the School of Architecture. In the same year he became director of the Royal Provincial Trade School in Iserlohn. In 1871 he became director of the boys' grammar school in Kiel ( 1882 secondary school was today Humboldt school), where he remained for the rest of his career.

Chisels dealt with number theory, calculus ( differential equations, asymptotic expansions, theta functions, elliptic functions, Bessel functions), spherical trigonometry and applications such as hydrodynamics, the three-body problem in celestial mechanics and refraction in the atmosphere. Today, he is still known for its calculations, the number of primes less than or equal to x. Chisel, which is an excellent computer was ( both numerically and in the manipulation of complicated formulas ), for certain. His algorithm was later improved by Derrick Lehmer and confirms the accuracy of the chisel ( made ​​without calculating machine ) Invoices (with chisel was worth 50,847,478 only 56 too low). The algorithm by Lehmer chisel and is still used today in computer calculations.