Heinrich Bruns (mathematician)

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Heinrich Bruns
(painting by Anton Klamroth , 1908)

Ernst Heinrich Bruns (born September 4, 1848 in Berlin , † September 23, 1919 in Leipzig ) was a German mathematician and astronomer who also contributed to the development of theoretical geodesy .

Live and act

Bruns studied mathematics , astronomy and physics at the University of Berlin between 1866 and 1871 , especially with Kummer and Weierstrass, and received his doctorate there. From 1872 to 1873 he was employed as a computer at the Pulkowo Observatory . As early as 1873 he was brought to the Dorpat observatory (now Tartu ) as an observer , where he stayed until 1876. Here he was also a lecturer at the university.

In 1876 Bruns was appointed associate professor of mathematics in Berlin, in 1882 he went to Saxony as full professor of astronomy and director of the Leipzig observatory ; in the same year he was also elected a member of the Leopoldina Scholars' Academy . Since 1884 he was a full member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences . In Berlin, Bruns also worked at the War Academy and the Geodetic Institute .

Heinrich Bruns dealt primarily with the theoretical side of the " figure of the earth " (as one of his main works is called). The potential theory and the exploration of equilibrium figures owe him essential aspects, and for the astronomical refraction he developed - together with his assistant at the observatory at the time, Felix Hausdorff , an unusual approach on the vertical gradient of the air temperature. In the absence of sufficiently precise measurement methods, however, the latter was not used in practice.

The higher geodesy of the 20th century - for example in the person of Karl Lederstegers - could be further developed on the basis of his theories, including the " Bruns' polyhedron ". This construct, which was intended as a global network , was transformed by the later satellite geodesy from a game of thought to a project aimed at for decades and finally to a fact through GPS .

The asteroid (901) Brunsia is named after him. The same applies to the Bruns Knoll , a deep sea mountain in the Antarctic Weddell Sea .

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personal data
SURNAME Bruns, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bruns, Ernst Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH September 4, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1919
Place of death Leipzig