The Life of Wilhelm Kutta and His Contributions to Theoretical Aerodynamics

Wilhelm Kutta made important contributions to mathematics and aerodynamics. His development of the fourth-order Runge--Kutta method is ubiquitous among scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. While his study of aerodynamics spanned a short period of his career, he was the first to obtain a meaningful theoretical prediction of lift from the equations of fluid motion and contributed to the development of the circulation theory of lift. Two such contributions bear his name: the Kutta–-Joukowski Theorem and the Kutta condition. Despite the far-reaching impact of his work, relatively little is known about his life. This paper gives a biographical sketch of Kutta's life and career. It focuses on the historical context of Kutta's contributions to theoretical aerodynamics and reviews translations of his relevant publications. The richest source of biographical information comes from a memorial speech by Kutta's colleague Friedrich Georg Pfeiffer. An English translation of the entire speech is provided. Other novel contributions include details gained from extensive archival research on the circumstances of Wilhelm Kutta's death and the disposition of his estate.