Hermann Rodewald

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Hermann Rodewald (born August 2, 1856 in Eilte near Hanover, † October 11, 1938 in Kiel ) was a German agricultural scientist .

Life

As the son of a farmer, Rodewald first attended the agricultural school in Ebstorf , then studied agriculture at the eorg-August University in Göttingen and received his doctorate there in 1879 under Bernhard Tollens with a thesis in the field of sugar chemistry. He then worked as an assistant at the Institute for Plant Physiology at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel . In 1881 he took over the position of assistant at the Agricultural Institute of the University of Kiel and at the same time the management of the semen control station. Both institutions were linked in personal union.

In 1883 Rodewald completed his habilitation in Kiel with a thesis on the interrelationships between metabolism in germinating seeds in the field of "Plant Physiology and General Theory of Plant Culture". In 1891 he was appointed associate professor and, in 1894, appointed Hermann Backhaus's successor to manage the Agricultural Institute at Kiel University. It was not until 1920 that he was appointed full professor of agriculture. In 1922 he retired. In 1936 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina .

Research and teaching

Rodewald's research was initially strongly oriented towards plant physiology . His special interest was in the unsolved problems of germination physiology. In several works he dealt with the chemical-physical properties of starch. Rodewald was one of the first scientists to apply mathematical methods such as the error probability calculation in agricultural research. His investigations into the errors occurring in seed tests were groundbreaking.

From 1884 to 1922 Rodewald gave lectures on plant cultivation, plant physiology, seeds and varieties, animal production theory, feeding theory and the economics of agriculture. His most important student was Eilhard Alfred Mitscherlich , who did his doctorate with him in 1898, completed his habilitation in 1901 and then worked as his assistant until 1906. The Agricultural Faculty of the University of Kiel has named Hermann-Rodewald-Strasse after him on its premises in Kiel-Ravensberg .

Fonts

  • Studies on the swelling of the starch. Kiel / Leipzig 1896.
  • Investigations into the errors of the semen tests. In: Work of the German Agricultural Society. Issue 101, 1904.

literature

  • EA Mitscherlich: Hermann Rodewald †. In: German agricultural press. Vol. 65, 1938, p. 571 (with picture).
  • EA Mitscherlich: Hermann Rodewald †. In: The Research Service. Volume 6, 1938, pp. 505-506 (with list of publications).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member entry by Hermann Rodewald at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on June 23, 2016.
  2. Hans-G. Hilscher, Dietrich Bleihöfer: Hermann-Rodewald-Strasse. In: Kiel Street Lexicon. Continued since 2005 by the Office for Building Regulations, Surveying and Geoinformation of the State Capital Kiel, as of February 2017 ( kiel.de ).