Carl David Runge (30.08.1856-3.01.1927) was a German physicist and mathematician. Born in Bremen. Graduated from the University of Berlin (1880). In 1886–1904 he was professor at the Higher Technical School in Hanover, and from 1904 at the University of Göttingen.
His work concerned spectroscopy, radioactivity, the theory of functions and differential equations. Together with H. Kayser he studied spectra, the intensity of spectral lines and the difference between spark and arc spectra, established the series of lines for many elements, in particular for the alkali and alkaline-earth metals, and discovered a number of regularities in their spectra.