Ludwig Matthiessen

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Ludwig Matthiessen (1895)

Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Matthiessen (born September 22, 1830 in Fissau , † November 14, 1906 in Rostock ) was a German physicist . Matthiessen was Professor of Physics, Dean of the Philosophical Faculty and Rector at the University of Rostock .

Life

Ludwig Matthiessen was the son of the teacher Christian Matthiessen and his wife Juliane Marie Gustave, geb. Hansen. He attended the grammar school (today's Johann Heinrich Voss School ) in Eutin , which he left in 1851 after passing the Abitur . In 1852 he began studying mathematics, astronomy and natural sciences, especially physics, at the University of Kiel . His professors included the physicist and mineralogist Gustav Karsten .

1857 doctorate Matthiessen with the thesis About the equilibrium figures homogeneous free rotirender liquids to Dr. phil. In the same year he completed his habilitation at Kiel University as a private lecturer in mathematical physics. As early as 1854 to 1855 he was employed as a curator at the Zoological Museum in Kiel and from 1855 to 1859 assistant at the physical institute of the University of Kiel. From 1859 he was a teacher of mathematics and physics at the comprehensive high school in Jever and in 1864 sub-rector at the high school in Husum . In 1873 he was appointed royal Prussian high school professor. In 1874, Matthiessen accepted the call to full professor of physics at the University of Rostock. He worked here for over thirty years.

In 1875 he became director of the newly founded physics institute and seminar. Two years later he was given the management of the university orphan's fund. From 1878 to 1879 and from 1895 to 1896 Matthiessen was Dean of the Philosophical Faculty of Rostock University and was appointed Rector from 1885 to 1886. From 1888 he also gave lectures on astronomy and mathematical geography. In the same year he took over the management of the astronomical-meteorological observatory. At the same time, he was a member of several examination commissions, including those for candidates for the higher education authority, the preliminary medical examination, the preliminary pharmaceutical examination and the preliminary examination for food chemists. In 1890, with the support of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Mecklenburg-Schwerin Ministry, he undertook a three-month research trip to the northern polar sea to study the physical-optical structure of the eyes of whales. He published the results of his investigations in a commemorative publication for Hermann von Helmholtz in 1891.

In 1905 he was at his own request emeritus . At the same time he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the House Order of the Wendish Crown . He took up residence in the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea resort of Müritz but went to the University Hospital in Rostock in 1906 after a serious illness . There he died on November 15, 1906, at the age of 76, of cardiac paralysis. Two days later, a solemn funeral service took place in the auditorium of Rostock University , at which the philologist Otto Kern gave the funeral speech.

Matthiessen had been a member of the mathematical society in Jena since 1862 and from October 28, 1885 ( matriculation no. 2519 ) a member of the Imperial Leopoldine-Carolinian German Academy of Natural Sciences in Halle (Saale) . In 1883 he received an honorary doctorate from the medical faculty of the University of Zurich . He was the holder of the Friedrich Franz III Memorial Medal. from Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Ludwig Matthiessen left behind an extensive body of literature in the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, meteorology and physiology. He was still active as a specialist writer in old age.

Publications (selection)

  • About the equilibrium figures of homogeneous free rotating liquids. Along with a figure board. ( Dissertation ), Kiel 1857.
  • About systems of cosmic rings with the same orbital period as discontinuous equilibrium forms of a freely rotating liquid mass. Leipzig 1865.
  • The algebraic methods of solving the litteral quadratic, cubic and biquadratic equations. Husum 1866.
  • The climate of Athens. Schleswig 1873.
  • Key to the collection of examples and exercises from general arithmetic and algebra. Practical guide for teachers and students. as a processor
Volume 1: General Arithmetic, Equations of the First and Second Degree. Cologne 1873.
Volume 2: Equations, progressions, combinations, higher equations and the application of algebra to geometry, etc. Cologne 1873.
  • Plan of the dioptric layered lens systems. Mathematical introduction to the dioptrics of the human eye. Leipzig 1877.
  • Basic features of the ancient and modern algebra of the literal equations. Leipzig 1878.
  • Contributions to the psychology and physiology of the sensory organs. Hermann von Helmholtz as a festive greeting on his seventieth birthday. Hamburg / Leipzig 1891.
  • Tasks for the interns of the Physics Laboratory of the University of Rostock. Rostock 1895.
  • Theory of atmospheric refraction and total reflection of sound waves and their significance for nautical science. Leipzig 1899.
  • New theory of the rainbow. With nine illustrations. Rostock 1903.
  • The potential of a ring at the center of a cross-section. Rostock 1905.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Matthiessen, Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Matthiessen, Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Fissau
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1906
Place of death Rostock