Otto Blumenthal


Ludwig Otto Blumenthal was a German mathematician and professor at RWTH Aachen University.

Biography

He was born in Frankfurt, Hesse-Nassau. A student of David Hilbert, Blumenthal was an editor of Mathematische Annalen. When the Civil Service Act of 1933 became law in 1933, after Hitler became Chancellor, Blumenthal was dismissed from his position at RWTH Aachen University. He was married to Amalie Ebstein, also known as 'Mali' and daughter of prof. dr. Wilhelm Ebstein.
Blumenthal, who was of Jewish background, emigrated from the Nazis to the Netherlands, lived in Utrecht and was deported via Westerbork to the concentration camp, Theresienstadt in Bohemia, where he died.
In 1913, Blumenthal made a fundamental, though often overlooked, contribution to aerodynamics by building on Joukowsky's work to extract the complex transformation that carries the latter's name, making it an example of Stigler's Law.

Selected publications

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