Wilhelm Jordan (1842–1899) was a German geodesist who did surveys in Germany and Africa and founded the German geodesy journal.

He is remembered among mathematicians for the Gauss-Jordan elimination algorithm, with Jordan improving the stability of the algorithm so it could be applied to minimizing the squared error in surveying. This algebraic technique appeared in his Handbook of Geodesy (1873).

Not to be confused with the mathematician Camille Jordan, nor with the German physicist Pascual Jordan.

German geologists | German mathematicians | 1842 births | 1899 deaths

Wilhelm Jordan | Иордан, Вильгельм (геодезист)