Carl Bruhns (astronomer)

Karl Christian Bruhns

Carl Christian Bruhns , also Karl Christian Bruhns (born November 22, 1830 in Plön , † July 25, 1881 in Leipzig ) was a German astronomer and also worked as a geodesist .

Life

Bruhns first studied higher mathematics and astronomy and was then employed in a mechanical workshop in Berlin from 1851 . Here he was able to gain the trust of Johann Franz Encke , who was director of the Berlin observatory at the time, through his achievements . Encke hired him as a second assistant in 1852. In 1854 he became the first assistant. In 1856 Bruhns received his doctorate with the work De planetis minoribus inter Martem et Jovem circa Solem versantibus (About the minor planets that revolve around the sun between Mars and Jupiter) (Berlin 1856) and completed his habilitation in 1859 at the University of Berlin . Since 1860 Bruhns was professor of astronomy and director of the Leipzig observatory . According to his plans, a new observatory was built in the Johannistal in 1860/61 and the old observatory on the Pleißenburg was closed. Bruhns did an excellent job, especially in calculating the orbits of comets , some of which he discovered. In 1867 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina Scholars' Academy . Since 1869 he was a full member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences .

When Johann Jacob Baeyer was commissioned with the Central European degree measurement , Bruhns took over the astro-geodetic work in Saxony . For a long time Bruhns was director of the astronomical section of the Royal Prussian Geodetic Institute and published several volumes of astronomical-geodetic works between 1865 and 1874 .

With the appointment of Oscar Ferdinand Peschel , Bruhns played a significant role in founding an institute for geography at the University of Leipzig .

In the field of meteorology , Bruhns made a name for himself by setting up a relatively dense network of meteorological observation stations ( weather stations ) in Saxony and by setting up an office for weather forecasts.

Works

• The historical development of astronomical rays . Voigt & Günther, Leipzig 1861 ( books.google.de ).
• History and description of the Leipzig observatory. For the opening of the new observatory on November 8, 1861 . Voigt & Günther, Leipzig 1861 ( books.google.de ).
• Johann Franz Encke. Royal Astronomer and director of the observatory in Berlin. His life and work . Ernst Julius Günther, Leipzig 1869 ( books.google.de ).
• Alexander von Humboldt. A scientific biography. 3 vols. Leipzig: Brockhaus 1872. ( digitized version of the Munich digitization center)
• Atlas of Astronomy . Brockhaus, Leipzig 1872 ( books.google.de ).

literature

• Wilhelm Haan : Carl Christian Bruhns . In: Saxon Writer's Lexicon . Robert Schaefer's Verlag, Leipzig 1875, p. 33.
• Siegmund Günther :  Bruhns, Christian . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 47, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1903, pp. 293-295.
• Michael Börngen: The promotion of meteorology by the astronomer Karl Christian Bruhns (1830–1881) . Conference The Development of Meteorology in the 19th Century of the German Meteorological Society (DMG) and the Expert Committee on the History of Meteorology (FAGEM), Potsdam 2003, summary of the presentations, pp. 10–12.

Web links

Wikisource: Karl Christian Bruhns  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Carl Bruhns in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Carl Bruhns  in the German Digital Library
• Publications by C. Bruhns in the Astrophysics Data System
• Carl Bruhns (astronomer) in the professorial catalog of the University of Leipzig
• Overview of the lectures of Carl Bruhns (astronomer) at the University of Leipzig (summer semester 1860 to winter semester 1881)
• Bruhns in the Leipzig Lexicon
• Univ. Kiel: Carl Christian Bruhns (PDF file; 35.26 MB)
• NN: Carl Christian Bruhns. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 42, 1882, p. 147. (Obituary, English)
• NN: Death notice. Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol. 100 (1881), p. 129. (Obituary)