Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau

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JPv Root construction according to Johann Adam Delsenbach

Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau (born September 28, 1651 in Nuremberg ; † July 21, 1725 there ) was an astronomer from Nuremberg .

Life

Wurzelbau, to the ennoblement Johann Philipp Wurzelbauer , came from a family of Erzgießern . His grandfather Benedikt Wurzelbauer was the creator of the Tugendbrunnen on the square in front of the Nuremberg Lorenz Church , his father Johann Wurzelbauer was also an ore caster. He died when Wurzelbauer was not yet five years old. His mother Dorothea, née Lochner, remarried to Johann Philipp Kob, a brass dealer. Wurzelbauer had initially been taught privately by a Magister Wandersleben and had then attended the last three classes of the Nuremberg grammar school. A subsequent study was not possible, however, because Wurzelbauer felt obliged to support his stepfather in running the business.

The allegory of astronomy hovers over the roof of Wurzelbau's observatory (title copper of the Uranies Noricae basis astronomico-geographica from 1697)
Observation tower of the Spitzenberg house 4

After the death of his stepfather in 1689, he continued the business until 1691. In 1692 he sold it and from then on devoted himself exclusively to his astronomical studies. His interest in astronomy was awakened by Georg Christoph Eimmart , who in 1678 set up the first Nuremberg observatory at the Vestnertorbastei of Nuremberg Castle , and with whom he published the first observations in 1684. In 1682 Wurzelbauer had started to set up an observatory in his house. In 1692 he furnished his house at Spitzenberg 4 with a striking, octagonal observation tower, which only went down when the house was completely destroyed in the Second World War. Some of his instruments became the property of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum , one of which, a large quadrant , can be seen in the GNM exhibition at Nuremberg Castle.

Wurzelbau was particularly interested in the precise determination of basic astronomical parameters, such as the geographical position of Nuremberg and the precise determination of the course of the sun. Based on his work on the movement of the sun, the Ellingen clock and compass maker Johann Michael Vogler (1670–1731) produced a sundial for him in 1716 , which may be the first sundial with an analemma that allows the displayed time to be corrected according to the equation of time . He published his numerous observations on astronomical events such as solar and lunar eclipses primarily in the series of the Prussian and French academies of which he was a member.

Wurzelbau married on May 14, 1679 with Maria Magdalena Petz (1656-1713). From this marriage there were six children, of which one son and one daughter survived. On August 6, 1720, he married Sabina Dorothea Kreß (1658–1733) again.

Memberships and honors

Wurzelbau had been a “named” member of the Greater Nuremberg Council since 1683 . In 1692 he was raised to the nobility by Emperor Leopold in recognition of his scientific work .

He was a member of the Electoral Brandenburg Society of Sciences and the Académie des Sciences , and was in contact with the most important natural scientists and astronomers of his time. He corresponded with Leibniz , Tschirnhaus , Cassini , de La Hire , Rømer , Hevelius , Kirch and Flamsteed , among others .

The lunar crater Wurzelbauer is named after him.

Fonts

  • Type Eclipseos Solaris: Quae Anno Chr. MDCLXXXIV. The 2nd Iulii St. vet. horis pomer. contigit, from Observatoribus Joanne Philippo Wurzelbaur, & Georgio Christophoro Eimmarto (Nuremberg 1684, digitized )
  • Eclipsis Lunae totalis cum mora observata Norimbergae AOR MDCLXXXV (Nuremberg 1685, digitized version )
  • Uranies Noricae basis astronomico-geographica (Nuremberg 1697)
  • Sol dum ultra Aequatorem descendere videtur, interventu Lunae maximam partem occultatus Terricolis: Sive, quam ipsimet Eclipsin passi appellare malunt, Eclipsis Solis, observata Norinbergae AOR MDCIC. (Nuremberg 1699, digitized version )
  • Christian Huygens Cosmotheoros or world-contemplating conjectures of the heavenly globes and their jewelry (translation by Wurzelbau; Leipzig 1703, digitized )
  • Synodi Telluris, Lunæ Et Solis arctissimæ sive Eclipseos (quam vocant) Solis totalis, cum mora, Phænomeni rarissimi Observatio habita Norinbergæ Anno MDCCVI (1706, digitized )
  • Stabilimentum baseos Uranies Noricae astronomico-geographicae Norimbergae Anno 1713
  • Johannes Gaupp: Calendarium novum astronomicum ad annum a nat. DNJ Ch. 1718 (contains parts of the sun panels from Wurzelbau; Augsburg 1718, digitized version )
  • Uranies Noricae basis astronomica (Nuremberg 1719, digitized version )
  • Opera Geographica-Astronomica (Nuremberg 1728, digitized )

literature

  • Christopher Daniel: Novum inventum. In: Clocks September 2005, p. 31
  • Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr : Historical news from the Nuremberg mathematicians and artists . Nuremberg 1730, pp. 146–151
  • Hans Gaab: Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau (1651-1725). In: Wolfgang Dick, Jürgen Hamel (ed.): Contributions to the history of astronomy , Volume 5. Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt a. M. 2002, pp. 47-114
  • Hans Gaab: The great Nuremberg clock. In: Wolfgang Dick, Jürgen Hamel (Eds.): Contributions to the history of astronomy , Volume 8. Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt a. M. 2006, pp. 43-90
  • Hans Gaab: Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau 1651-1725. In: Ellinger Hefte. Series of publications by the Ellingen City Archives, issue 34 (2008), pp. 15–23
  • Siegmund Günther :  Root construction, Johann Philipp von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 44, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, p. 365 f.
  • Johann Christian Poggendorff : Biographical-literary concise dictionary for the history of the exact sciences . Vol. 2, Leipzig 1863, Col. 1377
  • Karin Reich , Eberhard Knobloch: Building blocks for the life and work of Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau (1651-1725). In: Wolfgang Dick, Hilmar Duerbeck , Jürgen Hamel (eds.): Contributions to the history of astronomy , Volume 9. Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt a. M. 2008, pp. 89-105

Web links

Commons : Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The date of death is not clear. The ADB states March 22nd and points out that the date July 25th given by Doppelmayr (in Historische Nachrichten von den Nürnbergischen Mathematicis , p. 151) is incorrect. Zedler (vol. 60, p. 252) gives the same date . Hans Gaab - who is followed here - states July 21, 1725 on the Astronomie in Nuremberg website .
  2. ↑ 49 ° 27 '16.8 "  N , 11 ° 5' 11.8"  E
  3. ↑ In contrast, the ADB names 1706 as the year of ennoblement.
  4. ^ Foreign member since December 6, 1706, see member entry
  5. ^ Corresponding member since March 4, 1699 at the request of Jean-Dominique Cassini and Philippe de La Hire, see list of members ( Memento of March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 66 kB).
personal data
SURNAME Wurzelbau, Johann Philipp von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wurzelbauer, Johann Philipp; Wurzelbaur, Johann Philipp; Wurtzelbaur, Johann Philipp; Wurtzelbau, Johann Philipp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1651
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH July 21, 1725
Place of death Nuremberg