Karl or Philipp Carl Sprengel (March 29, 1787 – April 19, 1859) was a German

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

from Schillerslage (now part of

Burgdorf, Hanover Burgdorf (Standard German pronunciation: bʊʁk.dɔʁf Low German: Bortörp) is a town in the Hanover Region, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km northeast of Hanover. Until 1974, Burgdorf was the capital of the Burgd ...

). Sprengel worked under

Albrecht Thaer Albrecht Daniel Thaer (; 14 May 1752 – 26 October 1828) was a German agronomist and a supporter of the humus theory for plant nutrition. Biography Family and early life Albrecht Daniel Thaer was born in Celle, a neat little town in Hanov ...

(1752–1828) in

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

. He then worked from 1804 to 1808 with Heinrich Einhof (1778–1808) in Möglin on

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

studies. He travelled the world between 1810 and 1820, exploring agricultural ideas in Asia, Americas and Mesopotamia. Between 1821 and 1828 he studied natural sciences in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, where he eventually became professor. In the early 1830s he moved to Regenwalde (Resko), where he accepted position of the Chairman of the ''Pomorskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne'' (Pomeranian Economic Society), which he held for the rest of his life. Having his financial needs satisfied, finally he could fulfil his dream and establish ''Regenwalde Akademie der Landwirtschaft'' (Academy of Agriculture in

Resko Resko (; formerly german: Regenwalde) is a town in Łobez County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 4,436 inhabitants (2004). It is located on the Rega River. Climate Resko has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Cfb'' ...

), where he taught, studied and lived until his death in 1859. Influenced by (one of the students at ''Regenwalde Akademie der Landwirtschaft'') Felicjan Sypniewski theories, Sprengel was the first to formulate the "theory of minimum" in

agricultural chemistry Agricultural chemistry is the study of chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture—agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and environmental monitoring and re ...

, meaning that plant growth is limited by the essential

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

at the lowest concentration. This rule, often incorrectly attributed to

Justus von Liebig Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at t ...

Liebig's law of the minimum Liebig's law of the minimum, often simply called Liebig's law or the law of the minimum, is a principle developed in agricultural science by Carl Sprengel (1840) and later popularized by Justus von Liebig. It states that growth is dictated not by t ...

, was instead only popularised later as a scientific concept by Liebig.

Works

* 1839: ''Die Lehre vom Dünger oder Beschreibung aller bei der Landwirthschaft gebräuchlicher vegetablilischer, animalischer und mineralischer Düngermaterialien, nebst Erklärung ihrer Wirkungsart'', Leipzig * 1844
Die Bodenkunde oder die Lehre von Boden, nebst einer volständigen Anleitung zur chemischen Analyse der Ackererden
via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

References

1787 births 1859 deaths People from Hanover Region 19th-century German botanists German agronomists People from the Electorate of Hanover University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen 19th-century agronomists {{Germany-botanist-stub