Alfred Enneper earned his PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 from the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in 1856 for his dissertation about functions

Function (mathematics)

In mathematics, a function associates one quantity, the argument of the function, also known as the input, with another quantity, the value of the function, also known as the output. A function assigns exactly one output to each input. The argument and the value may be real numbers, but they can...

 with complex

Complex number

A complex number is a number consisting of a real part and an imaginary part. Complex numbers extend the idea of the one-dimensional number line to the two-dimensional complex plane by using the number line for the real part and adding a vertical axis to plot the imaginary part...

 arguments. After his habilitation

Habilitation

Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...

 1859 in Göttingen he was from 1870 on Professor (Extraordinarius) at Göttingen. He studied minimal surface

Minimal surface

In mathematics, a minimal surface is a surface with a mean curvature of zero.These include, but are not limited to, surfaces of minimum area subject to various constraints....

s and parametrized

Parametrization

Parametrization is the process of deciding and defining the parameters necessary for a complete or relevant specification of a model or geometric object....

 Enneper's minimal surfaces in 1863. A contemporary of Karl Weierstrass

Karl Weierstrass

Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass was a German mathematician who is often cited as the "father of modern analysis".- Biography :Weierstrass was born in Ostenfelde, part of Ennigerloh, Province of Westphalia....

, the two created a whole class of parameterizations.

See also

• Enneper-Weierstrass parameterization
  Enneper-Weierstrass parameterization
  In mathematics, the Weierstrass–Enneper parameterization of minimal surfaces is a classical piece of differential geometry.Alfred Enneper and Karl Weierstrass studied minimal surfaces as far back as 1863....