Joseph Johann von Littrow

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JJ von Littrow, copper engraving by H. Pinhas after Josef Kriehuber
H. Bitterlich: Joseph Johann and Carl Littrow (University of Vienna)
The Miracles of Heaven, 1842
Family coat of arms of the nobles von Littrow, awarded to Joseph Johann Littrow in 1836

Joseph Johann Littrow , since 1836 Edler von Littrow , also mentioned in the literature as Johann Josef Littrow , (born March 13, 1781 in Bischofteinitz in Western Bohemia ; † November 30, 1840 in Vienna ) was an Austrian astronomer and initiator of the new Vienna University Observatory . In addition to his specialist publications, he was primarily known for the easily understandable, three-volume textbook Die Wunder des Himmels from 1834/36, which was published in its eleventh edition by 1963.

Origin and relatives

Joseph Johann Littrow was the son of the businessman Anton Littrow from Livonia , who wrote himself to Lyttroff until 1807. In 1808 he married Karoline von Ulrichsthal (1792–1833), a daughter of Franz Ulrich von Ullrichsthal (see Brünner Taschenbuch, vol. 1 1870 and vol. 5 1880). The marriage resulted in 12 children, among them

  • the cartographer and later captain Heinrich von Littrow (* 1820 in Vienna, † 1895 in Abbazia),
  • Field Marshal Lieutenant Franz von Littrow (* 1821 in Vienna, † 1886 in Vienna), married to the women's rights activist Auguste (1833–1918), daughter of the pediatrician Ludwig Wilhelm Mauthner von Mauthstein . Franz von Littrow was knighted in Austria in 1861.
  • and the astronomer Karl Ludwig von Littrow (born July 18, 1811 in Kazan , † 1877 in Venice), who succeeded him as director of the observatory; married to the writer Auguste von Littrow , daughter of the physician Ignaz Rudolf Bischoff von Altenstern (* 1784 Kremsmünster, † 1850 Vienna, knighted in 1836), professor and primary school in Prague, since 1826 professor of physiology in Vienna.
  • Auguste Littrow's literary salon was an intellectual center of Vienna. Franz Grillparzer jokingly called her "Frau Astronom". She is the author of articles on the employment of women and the recruitment of certified primary school teachers and has earned recognition for her commitment to promoting the Vienna Women's Employment Association .

As an autodidact for astronomy professorship

After finishing school, Josef Johann Littrow began to listen to lectures at several faculties at the Charles University in Prague , especially law and theology. One of his lecturers was the writer August Gottlieb Meißner . With the support of this, he and friends founded the magazine Die Propylaea . He broke off his studies in 1803 and became tutor and tutor to Count Johann Baptist von Renard on Groß-Strehlitz ( Strzelce Opolskie ) in Silesia , owner of the royal fiefdom of Dorf-Teschen near Opava ( Opava ), married to Aloysia Countess Gaschin (noble family) , daughter of Count Amand von Gaschin (* around 1730), feudal lord on Katscher, married to Charlotte Freiin von Reisswitz and Kaderzin (cf. Roman von Procházka : Genealogical Handbook of extinct Bohemian gentry families . Supplementary volume . Edited by the board of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute ) . research Center for the Czech lands, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-486-54051-3 , page 53 and 54: standard sequence Gaschin adH Gaszyński v Gaszyn the coat of arms Berszten II, in Bohemia Gassinsky of Gassjn).

In Silesia he immersed himself as self-taught in mathematics and astronomy . After an excellent bankruptcy work, he was appointed professor of astronomy at the Jagiellonian University ( Cracow ) in November 1807 . When the city was occupied by troops from Poland and France and the city became part of the Duchy of Warsaw , he went to the University of Kazan at the end of 1809 to establish a practice observatory there. His son Karl Ludwig was born there in 1811, who later succeeded him as an astronomer. In 1816 Littrow moved as co-director of the new observatory on the Blocksberg in Ofen ( Buda ) and in 1819 took over an astronomy professorship at the University of Vienna .

Expansion of the university observatory in Vienna

As director of the University Observatory and from 1838 as dean he sought with professional foresight laying the observatory from the city center to the periphery, but it was not until his son and successor Charles Louis in the 1870s.

By 1825, however, he was able to completely rebuild the outdated observatory and equip it with good, medium-sized instruments. In addition to a meridian circle and a powerful comet finder , this was above all an excellent Fraunhofer refractor with an opening of 6 inches (16 cm), supplied and installed by Reichenbach's and Fraunhofer's Mathematical-Precision Mechanical Institute in Munich. Two more telescopes and a Reichenbach universal instrument came from this workshop . For the further equipment, Littrow also worked with the Viennese mechanic and optician Simon Plößl , who became known throughout Central Europe for his precise lens cut and the development of the Plössl eyepiece . Five astronomical pendulum clocks from Molyneux, Graham, Auch and Geist formed the time reference. To adjust the telescopes, he had the meridian columns erected on Wienerberg .

In order to be able to publish the observations made with the observers and adjuncts in a suitable manner, he founded the annals of the university observatory , which appeared regularly from 1821. As a university lecturer , Littrow was very much appreciated and published his mathematical and astronomical lectures in the form of several textbooks. In 1829 he became a member of the Leopoldina . From 1838 he was a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences in Paris.

1834-36 Littrow published the popular science book The Miracles of Heaven , of which 14,000 copies were printed in a few years. The three-volume work - which was edited again and again in 11 editions by different authors until 1963 - developed into a classic of astronomical literature and made Littrow the most widely read German-speaking astronomer in the 19th century. In a review in the “Stuttgarter Neue Tageblatt” the work is referred to as “the classic book of astronomy ”. Konradin Ferrari d'Occhieppo ascribes a broad impact similar to that of the natural scientist Alexander von Humboldt and his cosmos - draft of a physical description of the world 1845–1861 . Littrow originally planned to publish an extensive history of astronomy as the final part of his Miracles of the Sky . However, he could not complete this project. His history of astronomy remained in manuscript. It was only in 2016 that Littrow's work - supplemented by numerous comments - was published from his estate.

In 1836 Joseph Johann Littrow was raised to the hereditary Austrian nobility by Emperor Ferdinand I , with which his sons, their families and descendants also belonged to the nobility. In 1838 he received as Dr. phil. hc an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna.

From 1839 on, Littrow worked on a translation of the work History of the inductive sciences by the British philosopher and historian of science William Whewell . The translation appeared in 3 volumes from 1840.

As a university professor he developed a very fruitful activity; through his theoretical investigations he induced Plößl to use the dialytic telescope . Littrow was also an authority on utilities. His scientific essays were published collectively as mixed writings (Stuttgart 1846, with biography). Of his numerous writings, his popular lectures on astronomy , which he published in the Viennese magazine for art and literature , made him famous.

Fonts

Appreciations

Littrow bust in the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • In 2012 the lecture hall of the Institute for Astrophysics at the University of Vienna was renamed "Littrow-Hörsaal". This is to honor the work of JJ von Littrow, his son KL von Littrow and his grandson Otto von Littrow at the University of Vienna.
  • In 1827 JJ von Littrow became the commander of the Russian Order of Annen

Commemoration through naming in space

Littrow died on November 30, 1840 at the age of 59. In his memory, were on the Earth's moon in Mare Serenitatis the crater Littrow , the Rimae Littrow , a system of Rille and the Catena Littrow , a chain of craters , and the valley Taurus-Littrow named. Two astronauts from the Apollo 17 mission landed near Littrow Crater in 1972 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Joseph Johann von Littrow  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1753 on the roof of the new university building (today the Academy of Sciences) next to the Jesuit church . For information on conversion and equipment, see austriaca.at
  2. ↑ Member entry of Joseph von Littrow at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 18, 2015.
  3. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter L. Académie des sciences, accessed on January 14, 2020 (French).
  4. ^ Andreas W. Daum: Science popularization in the 19th century. Civil culture, scientific education and the German public 1848–1914 . Oldenbourg, Munich 2002, p. 268 .
  5. ↑ Information about "Littrow's History of Astronomy" on the website of the Königshausen & Neumann publishing house
  6. ↑ Konversations-Lexikon der Gegenwart: In four volumes. Volume 3, FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1840, p. 354.
personal data
SURNAME Littrow, Joseph Johann von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1781
PLACE OF BIRTH Bischofteinitz , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1840
Place of death Vienna