Ernst Eduard Kummer (29 January 1810 – 14 May 1893) was a German mathematician. Skilled in applied mathematics, Kummer trained German army officers in ballistics; afterwards, he taught for 10 years in a gymnasium, the German equivalent of high school, where he inspired the mathematical career of Leopold Kronecker.
Life
Kummer was born in Sorau, Brandenburg (then part of Prussia). His father, a physician, died in 1813.
He initially pursued Protestant theology but later studied mathematics