Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach (24 August 1772 – 21 May 1826),
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
scientific instrument
A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research.
History
Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...
maker, was born at
Durlach
Durlach is a borough of the German city of Karlsruhe with a population of roughly 30,000.
History
Durlach was bestowed by emperor Frederick II on the margrave Hermann V of Zähringen as an allodial possession.
It was chosen by the margrave Ch ...
in
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
on 24 August 1772.
Early life
Reichenbach's father was a master mechanic, and a master cannon-borer, who moved to
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
when Reichenbach was two, and became manager of the cannon-boring works there. At 14 Georg was admitted to the Military School at Mannheim where he got to know the astronomer at the Mannheim Observatory. He received a knowledge of mathematical instruments and was inspired to try to construct similar instruments in his father's workshop. The Director of the Observatory sent a sextant made by Reichenbach to
Count Rumford
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, FRS (german: Reichsgraf von Rumford; March 26, 1753August 21, 1814) was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th-century revolut ...
.
When he was 19, Reichenbach received a grant of 500
gulden for a journey to London, and introductions to the engineers
James Watt
James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...
and
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engine ...
. Reichenbach's first visit to England lasted from 1 June 1791 to January 1792, when he returned home for a short time before returning to England. He made drawings of Watt's steam engine despite Watt's attempts to keep it secret from him and also worked as an engineer in English ironworks and studied English instrument making.
He returned home in May 1793 and attempted improvements in the military workshops in Mannheim and Munich, with the help of his father.
Instrument making
In 1796 he moved to Munich where he began making his famous scientific instruments, including a
dividing engine
A dividing engine is a device employed to mark graduations on measuring instruments to allow for reading smaller measurements than can be allowed by directly engraving them. The well-known vernier scale and micrometer screw-gauge are classic e ...
, in between carrying out military work, which included the invention of a
breech-loading
A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition (cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle).
Modern firearms are generally breech ...
rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
which however did not prove popular.
In 1804, with
Joseph Liebherr and
Joseph Utzschneider
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, he founded an instrument making business in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and from 1807 onwards he was occupied more and more with the technical problems involved in making scientific instruments, in 1809 establishing with
Joseph Fraunhofer
Joseph Ritter von Fraunhofer (; ; 6 March 1787 – 7 June 1826) was a German physicist and optical lens manufacturer. He made optical glass, an achromatic telescope, and objective lenses. He also invented the spectroscope and developed diffracti ...
and Utzschneider, optical works at
Benediktbeuern
Benediktbeuern (Central Bavarian: ''Benediktbeiern'') is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany, 2 kilometers, or 1.25 miles from Bichl. The village has 3,602 residents as of 31 December 2019.
The medieval ...
, which were later moved to Munich in 1823.
In 1811 resigned from the army to devote his time to his scientific work and in 1814 withdrew from both of the companies he had been involved with, founding with T. L. Ertel a new optical business, from which he retired in 1821, when he obtained an engineering appointment under the
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n government. He died at Munich on 21 May 1826. He is buried in the
Alter Südfriedhof
The Alter Südfriedhof (''Old South Cemetery'') also known as "Alter Südlicher Friedhof" is a cemetery in Munich, Germany. It was founded by Duke Albrecht V as a plague cemetery in 1563 about half a kilometer south of the Sendlinger Ga ...
in Munich.
Transit circle
Reichenbach's principal achievement was the introduction into observatories of the
meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
or
transit circle
The meridian circle is an instrument for timing of the passage of stars across the local meridian, an event known as a culmination, while at the same time measuring their angular distance from the nadir. These are special purpose telescopes mount ...
, which combined the transit and the
mural circle
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
into one instrument. This had already been done by
Ole Rømer
Ole Christensen Rømer (; 25 September 1644 – 19 September 1710) was a Danish astronomer who, in 1676, made the first measurement of the speed of light.
Rømer also invented the modern thermometer showing the temperature between two fix ...
in around 1704, but the idea had not been adopted by anyone else, except in the transit circle constructed by
Edward Troughton
Edward Troughton FRS FRSE FAS (October 1753 – 12 June 1835) was a British instrument maker who was notable for making telescopes and other astronomical instruments.
Life
Troughton was born at Corney, Cumberland, the youngest of six child ...
for
Stephen Groombridge
Stephen Groombridge FRS (7 January 1755 – 30 March 1832) was a British merchant and astronomer.
Life
He was born at Goudhurst in Kent on 7 January 1755. He succeeded when about 21 to the business in West Smithfield of a linen draper named ...
in 1806. The transit circle in the form given it by Reichenbach had one finely divided circle attached to one end of the horizontal axis and was read by four
verniers on an "
alidade
An alidade () (archaic forms include alhidade, alhidad, alidad) or a turning board is a device that allows one to sight a distant object and use the line of sight to perform a task. This task can be, for example, to triangulate a scale map on site ...
circle," the unaltered position of which was tested by a spirit level. The instrument came almost at once into universal use on the continent of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
(the first one was made for
F. W. Bessel in 1819), but in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
the mural circle and transit instrument were not superseded for many years.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichenbach, Georg Friedrich von
German scientific instrument makers
People associated with astronomy
Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof
1771 births
1826 deaths
Military personnel from Mannheim