Adalbert Prey

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Adalbert Johann Prey (born October 16, 1873 in Vienna ; † December 22, 1949 there ) was a Bohemian-Austrian astronomer and geodesist who later became increasingly active in the field of geophysics . Between 1922 and 1950 he wrote textbooks on spherical astronomy and an introduction to geophysics .

Life

The son of a judge studied astronomy, physics and mathematics at the University of Vienna from 1892 to 1896, with Samuel Oppenheim among others . In 1896 he was with the thesis about the shape and location of the Milky Way Dr. phil. PhD. He then became an assistant at the Vienna University Observatory, passed the teaching exams in mathematics and physics in 1897 and completed his military service in 1897/1898. In 1899/1900 he took part in the expedition of the Vienna Academy of Sciences to India to observe the Leonids .

From 1900 to 1909 he was an adjunct in Austria. Degree measurement office and dealt with the evaluation of longitude determinations of important cities. In 1902 Prey qualified as a professor with the work Investigations into the movement relationships of the system 70 Ophiuchi at the University of Vienna for astronomy and geodesy, in 1906 with the work on the reduction of gravity observations to the sea level for the same subjects at the Vienna University of Technology . In 1909 he was appointed titular professor to head the Innsbruck University Observatory  , and in 1911 he was made a real associate professor.

After his military service from 1915 to 1917, he became a full university professor at the German University in Prague . In 1930 he was appointed full professor of theoretical astronomy at the University of Vienna as the successor to Samuel Oppenheim. In 1939 he was retired and supplemented his own chair during the Second World War. From 1946 until shortly before his death he held lectures as an honorary professor.

His son Siegmund Prey was a geologist.

Services

Prey dealt u. a. with the gravitational field of the earth and other celestial bodies. The theoretical gravity gradient in the interior of the earth's crust , the Prey gradient , is named after him.

At the beginning of the 1920s he was the first researcher who was able to represent the height and depth relationships of the earth in a continuous spherical function development. Due to computational bottlenecks (the standard at that time was logarithmic calculation), he was initially only able to lead the development up to the 5th order , but in 1922 he succeeded in continuing to n  =  m  = 16, which was a sensational harmonic model of the entire globe with a resolution of about 1000 km at the time or over 600 severity coefficients.

Around 1940 he developed an original method for Astronomical leveling , the special features of the geoid - curvature based. In 1941 he published them in the memoranda of the Vienna Academy of Sciences.

Awards

Prey was a real member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences and a member of several international and interdisciplinary organizations and research groups. After the Second World War , he took over the chairmanship of the ÖKIE ( Austrian Commission for International Earth Surveying ) for a few years .

In 1987 the Preyweg in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after him.

In 1998 the asteroid (6157) Prey was named after him.

Publications (selection)

  • Investigations into isostasia in the Alps based on gravity measurements in Tyrol. In: Meeting reports of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, Volume 121 (1912)
  • Representation of the height and depth relationships of the earth through a development according to spherical functions up to the 16th order. In: Treatises of the Royal Society of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class, Volume 11 (1922)
  • Observations of culminations of planets and the moon. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, Volume 235 (1929), pp. 129-136.
  • Attempt of an astronomical leveling without network adjustment. In: Memoranda of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, Mathematical and Natural Science Class, Volume 104 (1941)
  • About the theory of land bridges and the viscosity of the earth. In: Meeting reports d. Academy of Sciences in Vienna, Mathematical and Natural Science Class, Dept. 2a, Vol. 156, H. 9. u. 10 (1947)
  • Introduction to spherical astronomy. Springer, Vienna 1949

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Minor Planet Circ. 31296
personal data
SURNAME Prey, Adalbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prey, Adalbert Johann (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian geodesist and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH December 22, 1949
Place of death Vienna