Johann Heinrich Westphal
Johann Heinrich Christoph Westphal (born January 31, 1794 in Schwerin , † September 24, 1831 in Sicily ) was a German private scholar, astronomer and writer.
Life
Westphal was the youngest son of the Schwerin cathedral organist and mathematics teacher Johann Jacob Heinrich Westphal .
After completing high school, he joined the Lützow Freicorps in 1813 and fought as an officer in France. He then studied in Göttingen, where he obtained his doctorate in 1817 with a historical-critical work on the parallelogram of forces ( Demonstrationum Compositionis virium expositio de iisque judicium , Göttingen 1817). After a teaching position at Johann Peterhundiker's educational institution, the philanthropist in Vechelde , he was a professor of mathematics at the grammar school in Danzig for three years and then moved to Stettin, where he gave lectures on astronomy.
Westphal first traveled to Egypt in 1822 and then settled in Naples as a private scholar. He undertook further study trips both on the Nile and in Italy, where he suffered severe colic and died at the age of 37 in Sicily on the way from Syracuse to Termini.
Fonts
- Scientific treatises . Danzig 1820.
- Life, studies and writings of the astronomer Johannes Hevelius . Danzig 1820. ( digitized version )
- Logarithmic tables . Königsberg 1821. ( Digitized in the Internet Archive )
- Translation of the Lezioni elementari di astronomia by Giuseppe Piazzi , 2 volumes, Berlin 1822.
- Astrognosia . Berlin 1822.
- Nicolaus Copernicus . Wallis, Konstanz 1822. ( digitized in the internet archive )
- Guide to the Campagna di Roma . Rome 1827.
- Walk through Calabria and Apulia . Constance, 1828 ( digitized in the Internet Archive )
- The Roman campaign presented in topographical and antiquarian terms . Berlin 1829. ( Digitized in the Internet Archive )
literature
- Johann Georg Meusel : Westphal, (Johann Heinrich) . In: The learned Teutschland in the XIX. Century . 9th vol., Lemgo 1827, p. 517. ( digitized version )
- Brüssow: Westphal, Johann Heinrich Christoph . In: New Nekrolog der Deutschen . 9th year, 2nd part, Ilmenau 1833, p. 852 ff. Digitized in the Google book search.
- Johann Christian Poggendorff : Westphal, Johann Heinrich . In: Biographical-literary concise dictionary of the exact natural sciences . Volume 2, Leipzig 1863, Sp. 1306. ( digitized in the Internet Archive )
- Siegmund Günther : Johann Heinrich Westphal . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 42, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897, p. 202 f.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Westphal, Johann Heinrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Westphal, Johann Heinrich Christoph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German astronomer and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 31, 1794 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schwerin |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 24, 1831 |
| Place of death | Sicily |