Wilhelm Knop
Wilhelm Knop (born June 28, 1817 in Altenau (Harz), † January 28, 1891 in Leipzig ) was a German agricultural chemist .
Life
Wilhelm Knop studied natural sciences at the Universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg and taught mechanics and natural sciences at the commercial school in Leipzig from 1847 to 1856 . In 1853 he completed his habilitation with a thesis on the physiology of aquatic plants at the University of Leipzig , where he worked from 1861 as an extraordinary full professor and from 1880 as a full professor of agricultural chemistry. From 1856 to 1866 he was also head of the scientific department at the agricultural research station in Möckern near Leipzig. In 1864 he was accepted as a full member of the Royal Saxon Society of Sciences .
The focus of his research activities were in the fields of plant physiology and fertilizer theory . Thanks to his pioneering experiments with growing crops in nutrient solutions, Knop is considered to be one of the founders of the hydroponic method . The Knop nutrient solution has the following composition:
- 1.00 g / l Ca (NO 3 ) 2 calcium nitrate ,
- 0.25 g / l MgSO 4 * 7 H 2 O magnesium sulfate ,
- 0.25 g / l KH 2 PO 4 potassium dihydrogen phosphate ,
- 0.25 g / l KNO 3 potassium nitrate ,
- Traces of FeSO 4 * 7 H 2 O iron (II) sulfate .
Because the chemicals were not particularly pure at the time of Wilhelm Knop, the addition of further trace elements was not necessary. With today's much purer chemicals, the addition of trace elements is recommended, for example in the form of the AZ solution according to Dennis Robert Hoagland (see hydroponic fertilizer # Hoagland ).
He has published most of his test results in the journal Die agricultural experimental stations . For Knop, growing crops in nutrient solutions was primarily a method for uncovering scientific principles. For the determination of the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers he considered the field test as the decisive research method.
From 1848 to 1856 Knop published the Chemisch-Pharma Centralblatt and at times the Chemische Centralblatt . He wrote several specialist books on agricultural chemistry and fertilization problems in agriculture.
Fonts
- About the behavior of some aquatic plants towards gases . Leipzig 1853.
- Manual of chemical methods . Leipzig 1859.
- The cycle of matter. Agricultural chemistry textbook . 2 vols. Leipzig 1868.
- The rating of the soil . Leipzig 1871; 2nd edition with addendum ibid. 1872.
- Soil and cultivated plant . Leipzig 1883.
literature
- Heinz Walter: Knop, Wilhelm. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 214 f. ( Digitized version ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ members of SAW: Johnann August Ludwig Wilhelm Knop. Saxon Academy of Sciences, accessed on October 31, 2016 .
Web links
- Works by and about Wilhelm Knop in the German Digital Library
- Wilhelm Knop in the professorial catalog of the University of Leipzig
- Overview of the courses by Wilhelm Knop at the University of Leipzig (winter semester 1853 to winter semester 1887)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Knop, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German agricultural chemist and plant physiologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 28, 1817 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Altenau in the Harz Mountains |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 28, 1891 |
| Place of death | Leipzig |