Georg Moritz Lowitz

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Georg Moriz Lowiz

Georg Moritz Lowitz (born February 17, 1722 in Fürth ; † August 24, 1774 in Ilowlja , Russian Empire ) was an astronomer and geographer . He was a brother-in-law of Tobias Mayer . His son was the chemist and pharmacist Johann Tobias Lowitz .

Life

In 1746 Johann Michael Franz (1700–1761), Tobias Mayer (1723–1762) and Lowitz founded the “Cosmographic Society” to promote geographic and astronomical observations. In 1751 he succeeded Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr as professor of mathematics at the Aegidianum and head of the observatory in Nuremberg , in 1755 professor of practical mathematics at the University of Göttingen and in 1762 head of the Göttingen observatory. In 1767 Lowitz became professor of astronomy in Saint Petersburg and head of one of the astronomical expeditions of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences . In 1769 he stayed on the Caspian Sea as an observer of the Venus transit . He was murdered in 1774 by insurgent Cossacks under Pugachev .

From 1755 he was a member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences .

Fonts

  • Brief explanation of two astronomical maps of the solar or earth eclipse on July 25, 1748. Homann, Nuremberg 1748.
  • Description of a quadrant that is useful for astronomy and earth measurements: in addition to the invitation to listen to a solemn speech, with which the public and ordinary teaching post of mathematical and astronomical sciences will take place. Nuremberg 1752.
  • Collection of experiments by means of which the properties of the air can be understood and their effects can be explained. Nuremberg 1754.
  • Extract from the observations made at Gurjef on the occasion of the passage of Venus past the solar disk. Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 1770.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 155.
personal data
SURNAME Lowitz, Georg Moritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Astronomer, physicist, mathematician and cartographer
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1722
PLACE OF BIRTH Fürth , Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 1774
Place of death Ilowlja , Russian Empire , today Volgograd Oblast, Russia