Christian Gottfried Giebel

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Christian Gottfried Giebel
Christian (also: Christoph) Gottfried Andreas Giebel, memorial stone in Halle
Christian (also: Christoph) Gottfried Andreas Giebel, memorial stone in Halle

Christian Gottfried Andreas Giebel (born September 13, 1820 in Quedlinburg , † November 14, 1881 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German zoologist and paleontologist.

Life

Christian Gottfried Giebel was born on September 13, 1820 in Quedlinburg as the son of the lime distiller Christoph, whose ancestors already owned the lime distillery, and his wife Johanna Keilholz. There he was able to deal with rocks from an early age. He also examined bone finds from Ice Age creatures, which sparked his interest in the natural sciences. He attended high school in his hometown and then the University of Halle to study mathematics and natural sciences . His teachers were Ernst Friedrich Germar and Hermann Burmeister . At the university he founded the Natural Science Association in Halle . For this Giebel acted as director and later published the journal for the entire natural sciences with the association .

If Giebel initially wanted to study for a teaching position, he now gave up this wish and studied paleontology and zoology. It was 1845 in Halle with a thesis on fossil hyena doctorate . In 1848 he completed his habilitation as a private lecturer in these subjects. He held lectures on zoology several times on behalf of Burmeister and Germar, who were abroad. This was not enough for Giebel to earn enough money, he wanted to become a civil servant university professor, but initially did not get this position. He bridged this phase with popular science publications. It was not until 1858 that he was appointed associate professor ; after Burmeister was finally relocated in 1861, Giebel was his successor full professor of zoology at the University of Halle and director of the zoological museum. This also changed his area of ​​interest; if he had previously dealt with extinct animals, he now turned to living animals.

Wilhelm Hess describes Giebel as a hard-working and knowledgeable zoologist who was opposed to Darwinism . In addition, Giebel managed to express the results of his scientific research in a generally understandable way. However, his health was impaired by Giebel's uninterrupted work and he had to be operated on because of a stone disease . Shortly before his death, he gave up his professorship and suffered several strokes ; on November 14, 1881, he finally died in Halle at the age of 61.

Giebel was a member of the Leopoldina and an honorary doctorate in medicine. He showed particular diligence with publications, which were mostly reference works or manuals.

Fonts

First description of the
Elonichthys ganoid fish genus in 1848 , specimen in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Michigan
  • The pre-worldly, wool-haired rhinoceros of the Gevekenberg. Dissertation, 1845
  • Paleozoology. Draft of a systematic representation of the fauna of the prehistoric world. Merseburg 1846
  • Prehistoric fauna. Leipzig 1847–56, 3 volumes unfinished
  • Gaea excursoria germanica. Leipzig 1848
  • General paleontology. 1852
  • Odontography. Leipzig 1854
  • The mammals. Leipzig 1853–55 Digitized by Google
  • Petrefacta Germaniae. Leipzig 1866
  • Insecta epizoa. Edited from Nitzsch's estate, Leipzig 1874
  • Thesaurus ornithologiae. Leipzig 1872–77, 3 volumes
  • Gaea excursoria germanica. Leipzig 1848
  • Textbook of Zoology. Darmstadt 1857; 6th edition 1880
  • Daily questions from natural history. 3rd edition, Berlin 1859
  • Natural history of the animal kingdom. Leipzig 1858 to 1864, 5 volumes
  • Agricultural Zoology. Glogau 1869
  • Man, his physique, his life activity etc. Leipzig 1868
  • Bird protection book. 1868, 4th edition Berlin 1877

literature

Web links

Commons : Christoph Gottfried Giebel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. Frequently mistakenly Christoph Gottfried Giebel, cf. Catalogus Professorum Halensis
  2. From its founding in 1847/48 to 1853, the name of the association was "Natural Science Association in Halle". During these years "annual reports" appeared. From 1853 the name of the association changed to "Natural Science Association for Saxony and Thuringia in Halle". The “Natural Research Society of Halle”, one of the oldest scientific associations in German-speaking territory, had existed in Halle since 1779.
  3. The magazine was published from 1853.
  4. ^ Daum, Andreas W: Science popularization in the 19th century. Bourgeois Culture, Scientific Education, and the German Public, 1848-1914 . Oldenbourg, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-486-56337-8 , pp. 289, 353 f., 488 .
  5. Quote: “Giebel published a large number of publications. He managed 200 sheets and more annually. However, he did not read through his manuscripts or correct them. A lack of care, e.g. T. Superficiality and a lack of self-criticism, the assessment of his writings by specialist colleagues was often poor. "Website of the Martin Luther University, collections and major projects (see web links Giebel )