Heinrich von Wild

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Heinrich von Wild

Heinrich Iwanowitsch Wild , also Heinrich von Wild , (born December 17, 1833 in Uster , Canton Zurich , † September 5, 1902 in Zurich ) was a Swiss meteorologist and physicist .

Life

Wild studied physics in Zurich and Königsberg , did his doctorate in 1857 and completed his habilitation at the Zurich University and the Polytechnic (1857), but was called to Bern in the same year as professor of physics and director of the observatory . He expanded the observatory there to become the central meteorological institute of the canton of Bern, thereby laying the foundation for Switzerland's extensive observation network.

When the Federal Council entrusted him with the inspection of the measuring and weight institutes ( calibration offices ) in 1861 , Wild took this as an opportunity to set up a normal calibration facility (normal adjustment works) after the reforms had been carried out by 1867, of which he also became director. In his honor, a street was later named after him (Wildstrasse in the Kirchenfeld district of Bern).

In 1868 Wild was appointed to Saint Petersburg as a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and director of the Central Physical Observatory , where he reformed the institute and the meteorological (and geomagnetic) observation network throughout Russia . In 1877, Wild initiated the establishment of the meteorological-magnetic observatory in Pavlovsk , and later also in Irkutsk . He introduced the reduction of the meteorological values ​​on the basis of the barometer reading , with which the observations in the different countries could be compared. He also improved various instruments for observing the weather and geomagnetism . In addition, he dealt with methods for determining electrical resistance .

Wild was from 1870 editor for "Annals of the Physical Observatory for Russia" and for "New Repertory for Meteorology" (1869-1894, published by the Russian Academy of Sciences). Wild was appointed a member of the international meter commission in 1870. Like Karl Christian Bruhns and Karl Jelinek , Wild campaigned for the convening of several international meteorological congresses, for example in Vienna in 1873 and in Rome in 1879. In May 1880 Wild became President of the International Polar Commission and in this capacity was instrumental in organizing the First International Polar Year 1882-1883.

In 1885, von Wild was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

In 1895, Wild retired into private life.

plant

Wild's polarist robometer (wood engraving from 1897)

Wild was mainly active in the fields of optics , electricity and geomagnetism . He also contributed to questions of meteorology and measuring theory .

Heinrich Wild invented, among other things, the polarist robometer , which z. B. was used in saccharimetry . In the theory of electricity, Wild made a name for himself by redefining the absolute unit of electrical resistance, ohm . As President of the Polar Commission, he edited the Society's regular communications, which made important contributions to polar research in the 1880s.

literature

  • Obituaries in: Meteorologische Zeitschrift , 19, 1902, pp. 463, 506.
  • H. Ingensand: 2000 years of theodolite: from Heron to Heinrich Wild . In: Vermessung, Photogrammetrie, Kulturtechnik 3, 1992, pp. 128-140.
  • Heinrich von Wild . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 32 : Werth – Väderkvarn . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1921, Sp. 442 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Members of the American Academy. Listed by election year, 1850–1899 , amacad.org (PDF), accessed September 24, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Wild, Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wild, Heinrich Iwanowitsch
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss meteorologist and physicist
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Uster , Canton of Zurich
DATE OF DEATH September 5, 1902
Place of death Zurich