Tobias Mayer ( German: Tobias Mayer ; February 17, 1723 , Marbach am Neckar - February 20, 1762 , Göttingen ) is a German cartographer and astronomer who became famous for his study of the Moon .
| Tobias Mayer | |
|---|---|
| Tobias mayer | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| A country | Germany |
| Scientific field | cartography , astronomy |
| Place of work | |
| Known as | moon motion researcher |
Biography
Born in Marbach in the family of a craftsman; was apprentice first at the painter, then at the shoemaker. Thanks to his remarkable natural talents, Mayer gained considerable knowledge without outside help; in the 20th year of his life he moved to Nuremberg and entered the cartographic institution of Franz-Goman, a draftsman and engraver. Here he devoted his free time to science, made astronomical observations with improvised tools, and became so famous that in 1751 he was invited to Göttingen as professor of mathematics and astronomy.
Despite the short duration of his life, Mayer managed to make many astronomical observations in Göttingen and write several capital treatises. His catalog of 998 zodiac stars still matters; he gave the complete theory of the passive instrument, invented the reflective prism-mirror circle, the so-called repeat instruments, etc. His studies of the motion of the moon gained the greatest fame.
The work “Theoria Lunae juxta systema Newtonianum” was published in London only after his death (1767); Mayer's widow received an English prize for him. 5,000 pounds of government assigned for the method of determining longitudes at sea.
Other works by Mayer were published by Lichtenberg (Opera inedita, 1775), and astronomical observations only in 1826.
Curious details about Mayer's childhood, about his adventures during the siege of Gottingen by the French during the Seven Years War, etc., are printed in it. “Monatliche Correspondenz” by Zach (Volumes VIII and IX).
Tobias' son, Johann Meyer ( 1752 - 1830 ), was also a professor in Göttingen; he typed: dumb. "Practische Geometrie" (1795-1802), German. "Lehrbuch über die physische Astronomie" (1805) and others.
Memory
In 1935, the International Astronomical Union named Tobias Mayer as a crater on the visible side of the moon .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 118579576 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ 1 2 BNF identifier : Open Data Platform 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 Archive for the history of mathematics MacTyutor
- ↑ 1 2 http://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/16/0826.html
Literature
- Vitkovsky V.V. Mayer, Tobias // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Kolchinsky I.G., Korsun A.A., Rodriguez M.G. Astronomers: A Biographical Reference. - 2nd ed., Revised. and additional .. - Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1986. - 512 p.
- Eric G. Forbes: Tobias Mayer (1723-1762), pioneer of enlightened science in Germany. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1980 ISBN 3-525-85268-1