Karl Snell (physicist)

Karl Snell (born January 19, 1806 in Dachsenhausen , † August 12, 1886 in Jena ) was a mathematician , natural philosopher and professor of mathematics and physics at the University of Jena .

Karl Snell on a photograph by Carl Schenk

Life

Karl Snell studied philosophy and mathematics from 1823 to 1828 in Gießen, Halle, Göttingen and Berlin. After his dissertation he became a teacher of natural sciences at the Blochmann Institute in Dresden , then in 1834 a teacher of mathematics and physics at the Kreuzschule . In 1844 he became a full professor of mathematics and physics at the University of Jena . On the occasion of his appointment, he also received an honorary doctorate (Dr. phil. Hc). He carried out the dedicated double teaching activity until 1878. He was increasingly supported by Hermann Schaeffer , who expanded the experimental physics.

The focus of his work in mathematics was geometry, calculus, integral and differential calculus. In physics, he dealt with theoretical mechanics, mechanical heat theory, electromagnetism, galvanic currents and induction. He was a reviewer for Otto Schott's dissertation and a sponsor of his student Ernst Abbe , who married his daughter Else (Elise) in 1871. His granddaughter Margarete (Marguerite), daughter of Ottilie Koch b. Snell, was married to Siegfried Czapski .

Snell devoted himself particularly to the philosophical interpretation of the natural sciences and appeared as an opponent of the school around Jacob Friedrich Fries . Gottlob Frege is one of his most famous students . He was a member of the rectorate of the University of Jena in 1849, 1852 and 1856/57.

He developed a theory of evolution in which he also made a connection to German idealism ( Immanuel Kant ).

Snell was a staunch opponent of Otto von Bismarck and prevailed over the National Liberal Party in the Reichstag election of March 3, 1871 as a candidate for the Free People's Party in the Weimar constituency . He also had an influence on the statute of the Carl Zeiss Foundation drawn up by Ernst Abbe .

Works

• Textbook of Geometry , FA Brockhaus, Leipzig, 1841
• Introduction to differential and integral calculus , FA Brockhaus, Leipzig, Volume 1 1846, Volume 2 1851
• Newton and mechanical science , Arnoldsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig, 1843, 2nd ed. 1858

literature

• Moritz Cantor :  Snell, Karl . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, p. 507.
• Franz Bolck (Ed.): Physics section - on the development of physics after 1945 at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena . Jenaer Reden und Schriften, Jena 1982.
• Siegfried Schmidt, Ludwig Elm , Günter Steiger (eds.): Alma mater Jenensis - history of the University of Jena . Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1983.
• Christian Heermann: Karl Snell and Hermann Schäffer as university educators. On the history of experimental teaching in physics at the University of Jena in the second half of the 19th century . Series of publications for the history of natural sciences, 1965.
• Joachim Hartung, Andreas Wipf (Ed.): The honorary doctors of the Friedrich Schiller University in the fields of natural sciences and medicine . Hain Verlag, Weimar & Jena 2004.
• Klaus-Peter Endres A mathematician thinks about evolution. Karl Snell (1806-1886). Olms Verlag, Studies and Materials for the History of Philosophy, Volume 60, 2002

Web links

• Snell, Karl. In: Professors Gallery of the Physics and Astronomy Faculty of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
• Rector's speeches from Snell at the University of Jena