Abraham Gotthelf Kästner

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abraham Gotthelf Kästner; Painting by Joh. Heinr. Table leg.

Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (born September 27, 1719 in Leipzig , † June 20, 1800 in Göttingen ) was a German mathematician and epigram writer .

He was the son of law professor Abraham Kästner. In 1756 he married Johanna Rosina Baumann after being engaged for 12 years. On March 4, 1758, his wife died of a lung disease. Kästner later married the widow of a French officer. Whether a daughter comes from this connection is questionable.

Professional background

De habitu matheseos et physicae ad religionem , 1752

From 1731 Kästner studied law, philosophy, physics, mathematics and metaphysics in Leipzig. In 1733 he was appointed a notary . 1739 followed the habilitation at the University of Leipzig , Kästner gave mathematical, philosophical and legal lectures. In 1746 he became an associate professor at the University of Leipzig. In 1756 he followed a call to Göttingen as a full professor of natural science and geometry . From 1763 he was also head of the local observatory. Kästner was a teacher and later a colleague of Lichtenberg and Erxleben . Further students were Johann Pfaff , the doctoral supervisor of Carl Friedrich Gauß , Johann Tobias Mayer , the son of his friend and former head of the Göttingen observatory Tobias Mayer , and Heinrich Wilhelm Brandes . Kästner was a staunch opponent of animal experiments (at that time: vivisection ) and fought this practice fiercely. He died as a councilor in Göttingen in 1800 and was buried in the Bartholomäus cemetery.

In 1750 he was accepted as a foreign member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences . From 1751 he was a foreign and from 1755 a full member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . Since 1786 he was an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg .

The Kästner lunar crater is named after him.

Works

Abraham Gotthelf Kästner

Of his numerous writings on mathematics, his beginnings of mathematics (Göttingen 1758–1769, 4 volumes; 6th edition 1800) should be emphasized. He also presented a comprehensive history of mathematics (Göttingen 1796–1800, 4 volumes).

Kästner became best known for his epigrams , which first appeared in Gießen in 1781 without his consent and which earned him a lot of criticism of various personalities with their biting wit and sharp irony. They were later included in his Mixed Writings 1 and 2 (Altenburg 1783, 2 volumes) and also appeared in his Gesammelte poetic and prosaic beautiful scientific works (Berlin 1841, 4 volumes) and later in Joseph Kürschner's German National Literature , Volume 73 (ed. By Minor; Stuttgart 1883). His praise to Gottfried Wilhelm Freyherrn von Leibniz (Altenburg, 1769) is hardly known .

Mentioned by Lichtenberg and Kleist

Kästner is mentioned and quoted often and with great respect in Georg Christoph Lichtenberg's Sudel books and letters, and numerous letters from Lichtenberg are addressed to him. In Heinrich von Kleist On the gradual development of thoughts in speech is Kaestner - mentioned - as a known mathematician: "Not that they, as such, it to me said ; because she neither knows the code of law nor has she studied Euler or Kästner. "

literature

Web links

Commons : Abraham Gotthelf Kästner  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Abraham Gotthelf Kästner  - Sources and full texts
Wikiquote: Abraham Gotthelf Kästner  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Monika Siegel: A fellow sufferer. How enlightened fathers deal with clever daughters. In: I had a penchant for enthusiasm. The life of the writer and translator Meta Forkel-Liebeskind as reflected in her time. 2001, p. 23 , accessed on September 3, 2018 . and Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (1719 - 1800). Retrieved September 3, 2018 . According to ( grave of Abraham Gotthelf Kästner in Göttingen (Germany). In: . Welcome to the virtual exhibition certificates to mathematicians Wolfgang nation in 2008, accessed on September 3, 2018 . ) His wife on Sept. 8, 1756 is noted as a wedding anniversary on the grave stone .
  2. ^ Hubert Bretschneider: The dispute about vivisection in the 19th century . Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1962, p. 4.
  3. ↑ Monuments on Mathematicians / Round walk showing the exhibits of AG Kästner . W-volk.de. August 3, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  4. ^ Members of the previous academies. Abraham Gotthelf Kästner. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities , accessed on April 11, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 129.
  6. ^ Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1724. Abraham Gotthelf Kästner. Russian Academy of Sciences, accessed September 6, 2015 (Russian).
  7. ↑ Helmut Sembdner (ed.): Heinrich von Kleist: Complete works and letters . 2nd volume, 5th edition, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1970, p. 319.
personal data
SURNAME Kästner, Abraham Gotthelf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician and epigram writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1719
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1800
Place of death Goettingen