Johann Rudolf Merian

Family grave in the Wolfgottesacker cemetery , Basel

Johann Rudolf Merian (born March 15, 1797 in Basel ; † October 25, 1871 ibid) was a Swiss mathematician and politician .

biography

Johann Rudolf Merian, son of a businessman, completed a commercial training in Basel and Marseille . He then studied mathematics in Paris and Göttingen , where he received his doctorate in 1827 . From 1829 to 1841 he worked as a mathematics teacher at the Basler Pädagogium , at the same time as an associate professor and from 1830 as a full professor of mathematics at the University of Basel . In 1841 he was appointed honorary professor. For 35 years he also held the office of administrator of the university property.

In addition to his professional activity, Merian was also politically active. In 1820/21 he belonged to the so-called Tugendbund, a political club that criticized the conservative Basel authorities with moderate amounts. From 1833 to 1869 he was a member of the Grand Council in his home and home canton of Basel-Stadt . In 1847/48, as a delegate from the Diet , he tried unsuccessfully to mediate between the Catholic-conservative and the liberal-radical cantons together with the Basel mayor Felix Sarasin . From 1853 to 1856 he represented his canton in the Council of States .

His brother Peter Merian (1795–1883) was a scientist, museum director and politician.

Honors

In 1876 Ferdinand Schlöth commissioned a monument bust of Johann Rudolf Merian for the auditorium of the museum on Augustinergasse .

Works

Johann Rudolf Merian (1828), On the Movement of Drip Liquids in Vessels , Schweighauser, Basel, OCLC 46229431. (Contains, among other things, the equation for the Seiches period , now known as the Merian's equation.) Republished
in an adapted version as:
Karl von der Mühll (1886), " About the movement of drip liquids in vessels. According to Johann Rudolf Merian ", Mathematische Annalen 27 (4), pp. 575-600.

Web links

Thomas Schibler: Merian, Johann Rudolf. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

↑ Stefan Hess / Tomas Lochman (eds.): Classical beauty and patriotic heroism. The Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891) , Basel 2004, p. 172f.

personal data
SURNAME	Merian, Johann Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss mathematician and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	March 15, 1797
PLACE OF BIRTH	Basel
DATE OF DEATH	October 25, 1871
Place of death	Basel

[1] Stefan Hess / Tomas Lochman (eds.): Classical beauty and patriotic heroism. The Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891) , Basel 2004, p. 172f.