Leonhard Sohncke

Leonhard Sohncke (22 February 1842 Halle – 1 November 1897 in Munich) was a German mathematician who classified the 65 space groups in which chiral crystal structures form, called Sohncke groups. He was a professor of physics at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe (now called the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) from 1871 to 1883, at Jena from 1883 to 1886, and at the Technical University of Munich from 1886 to 1897.

Leonhard Sohncke

His father Ludwig Adolph Sohncke (1807-1853) was professor of mathematics at the University of Halle. He published several books, including Geschichte der geometrie, hauptsachlich mit bezug auf die neueren methoden in 1839, a translation of Aperçu historique sur l’origine et la dévelopement des méthodes en géométrie (1837) by Michael Chasles.