Emmanuel Liais

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Bust of Emmanuel Liais.

Emmanuel Liais (born February 15, 1826 in Cherbourg , † March 5, 1900 ibid) was a French astronomer , botanist and explorer who lived in Brazil for many years. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Liais ".

Life

He came from a wealthy family who made their money in shipbuilding. He himself was an amateur scientist who carried out meteorological research and wrote some papers. The well-known astronomer François Arago took note of an 1852 publication in which Liais stated that Cherbourg's climate was milder than that of Paris.

In 1854 he followed the call to Paris and took a job at the local observatory . He assisted Urbain Le Verrier in his attempts to set up a telegraphic network for meteorological forecasts.

Liais then traveled to Brazil to observe the solar eclipse of September 7, 1858, and stayed there for a long time thereafter. He came into the circles of the Brazilian emperor Dom Pedro II and thus became director of the Imperial Observatory of Rio de Janeiro in 1871 and again from 1874 to 1881.

Although the observatory was founded in 1827, it was used almost exclusively by students from military schools. Liais worked harder to ensure that this observatory was primarily used for research purposes. The fact that he had discovered comet C / 1860 D1 (Liais), which was synonymous with the first comet discovery from Brazil, may have helped him .

He continued to make observations of the planet Mars and in 1865 came up with the idea that the dark albedo areas came from vegetation and not from water. In retrospect, both turned out to be incorrect.

On the orders of the emperor, he undertook research trips within Brazil and studied plants in remote areas. He also sent some of these plants to France. At the same time he published the book Climats, geologie, faune et geographie botanique du Brésil (Paris: Garnier Frères, 1872).

In 1878 a public dispute began between him and Manoel Pereira Reis and his position at the observatory became increasingly untenable. In early 1881 he gave up and returned to Cherbourg. Here he was mayor from 1884 to 1886 and again from 1892 until his death. He also imported exotic plants from South Africa and Asia.

He married the Dutch Margaritha Trovwen. However, there were no children from this marriage. He bequeathed the botanical park he created to the city of Cherbourg. The park is still called the Emmanuel Liais Garden today. A crater on Mars is also named after him. In addition to the park, there is also Emmanuel Liais Street in Cherbourg. The author's standard botanical abbreviation Liais is used for the species he once described.

Works

  • Climats, geologie, faune et geographie botanique du Brésil , Paris, Garnier Frères, 1872
  • Traité d'astronomie appliquée à la geographie et à la navigation; suivi de, La géodésie pratique , Paris, Garnier, 1867
  • L'espace céleste et la nature tropicale. Description of physique de l'univers d'après des observations personnelles faites dans les deux hémisphères , Paris, Garnier Frères, 1865
  • L'espace céleste, ou, Description de l'univers: accompagnée de récits de voyages entrepris pour en compléter l'étude , Paris, Garnier Frères, 1881
  • Théorie mathématique des oscillations du baromètre et recherche de la loi de la variation moyenne de la température avec la latitude , Paris, Bachelier, 1851
  • Hydrographie du haut San-Francisco et du Rio das Velhas: ou, Résultats au point de vue hydrographique d'un voyage effectué in the province of Minas-Geraes , Paris, Garnier; Rio de Janeiro, Garnier, 1865
  • Recherches sur la température de l'espace planétaire , Cherbourg, Lecauf, 1853
  • L'histoire de la découverte de la planète Neptune , Leipzig, G. Fock, 1892
  • De l'emploi des observations arimutales pour la détermination des ascensions droites et des déclinaisons des étoiles , Cherbourg, Bedelfontaine, 1858
  • Influence de la mer sur les climats, ou, résultats des observations météorologiques faites à Cherbourg en 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851 , Paris, Mallet-Bachelier; Cherbourg: Bedelfontaine et Syffert, 1860
  • De l'emploi de l'air chauffé comme force motrice , Paris, [sn], 1854

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Liais, Emmanuel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Astronomer, botanist and explorer
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1826
PLACE OF BIRTH Cherbourg
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 1900
Place of death Cherbourg