Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann

Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann (born August 17, 1743 in Uelzen , † July 4, 1815 in Braunschweig ) was a German geographer and biologist .

origin

His parents were provosts and superintendents of Uelzen Johann Christian Zimmermann († May 28, 1783) and his wife Henriette Charlotte Königs .

Life

Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann studied natural history ( medicine ), philosophy , mathematics and geography at the universities in Leiden , Halle and Göttingen (perhaps also in Berlin with Leonhard Euler ) from 1761 to 1765 . Zimmermann completed his studies in Göttingen with a mathematical publication in the field of curve discussion .

From 1766 he taught at the Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig as a professor of mathematics, physics and natural history. Zimmermann published some scientific works, including the widely acclaimed geographic history of man and the generally widespread quadruped animals (3 volumes, 1778–1783), through which he became generally known. From Ilsenburg in 1775, together with the engineer officer and later Major General Bonaventura von Rauch, he measured the height of the Brocken . In 1778 Zimmermann was appointed a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and later also of other academies, such as the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in 1808 . In 1796 he was raised to the imperial nobility. From 1801 Zimmermann was released from his teaching duties in order to be able to devote himself fully to his journalistic work.

He was a member of the Braunschweig Freemason Lodge Jonathan and temporarily its master of the chair .

Zimmermann made trips through Livonia , Russia , Sweden and Denmark , but probably did not use the trips to study the distribution of mammals. Rather, they were used to carry out scientific measurements and experiments. In 1775 he also measured the height of the Brocken with the help of a special barometer during a trip to the Harz Mountains . Further trips took him to England , France , Italy and Switzerland to find out about economic conditions and natural resources.

From 1806 to 1807 Zimmermann lived in Altona, which was then part of the Kingdom of Denmark . He died after a long illness on July 4, 1815 at the age of 71 in Braunschweig.

family

He married Anna Elisabeth von Knobloch in 1770 († May 25, 1810). The couple had a son: Johann Georg Wilhelm von Zimmermann (* 1772), who was in the Prussian service as a secret legation councilor.

Services

Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann is considered to be a major founder of animal geography , who was particularly based on the work of George Louis Leclerc de Buffon . As a representative of the transition period from classical natural history to " biology " as an independent science of life.

Works (selection)

• Observations on a trip to the Harz Mountains along with an attempt to determine the height of the chunk with the barometer. Publishing house of the Princely Orphanage Bookstore, Braunschweig 1775
• Geographical history of man and the four-footed animals. In addition to a zoological world chart belonging here. 3 volumes, Weygandsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1778–1783, OCLC 8766966 .
• About the compressibility and elasticity of the water. Leipzig 1779, OCLC 247199635 .
• France and the Free States of North America. Volume 1, Voss, Berlin 1795, OCLC 312560863 . (Reprint, Kessinger Pub Co, 2009, ISBN 978-1-104-75104-3 .)
• General overview of France from Francis I to Louis XVI. Berlin, Braunschweig 1800 (Volume 2 of France and the Free States of 1795 ), OCLC 46250270 .
• Travel paperback. 12 years, Leipzig 1802–1813, OCLC 241484417. , Digitized
• The earth and its inhabitants. 5 volumes, Leipzig 1810–1815.
  • The earth and its inhabitants according to the latest discoveries. A reader for geography, ethnology, product theory and trade. (Volume 3) G. Fleischer the Younger, Leipzig 1811, OCLC 65250987 . (Reprinted, Nabu Press, 2011 ISBN 978-1-247-87685-6 .)

literature

• Peter Albrecht: Zimmermann, Eberhard August Wilhelm von. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Günter Scheel (ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 19th and 20th centuries . Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5838-8 , p. 672 .
• Petra Feuerstein-Herz: The Elephant of the New World. Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann (1743–1815) and the beginnings of animal geography. German Apotheker-Verl., Stuttgart 2006. (= Braunschweiger publications on the history of pharmacy and science. 45) ISBN 3-7692-4099-5 .
• Petra Feuerstein-Herz: Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann (1743–1815) and animal geography. Dissertation Braunschweig 2004 ( online ).
• Paul Zimmermann:  Zimmermann, Eberhard August Wilhelm . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 45, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1900, pp. 256-258.

Web links

Wikisource: Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann  - sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann  in the German Digital Library
• Zimmermann, Eberhard August Wilhelm from 1743–1815 on worldcat.org (list of publications)