Plaque to Johann Jakob Ebert at 16 Burgermeisterstrasse in Wittenberg

Johann Jakob Ebert (born 20 November 1737 in Breslau; died 18 March 1805 in Wittenberg) was an 18th-century German mathematician, astronomer, poet and author.

Life

He was born in Breslau in what was then part of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

(now known as

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

and in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) on 20 November 1737. He was educated in

Wurzen Wurzen () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of Leipzig, by rail N.E. of Leipzig on the main line via Riesa to Dresden. It has a cathedral datin ...

in western

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

then returned to his home town to study at the Elisabeth Gymnasium. In 1756 he enrolled at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

again in Saxony. He studied Mathematics, Natural Philosophy (Physics) and Moral Philosophy and graduated MA in 1761. Following graduation he lectured in Maths and Philosophy at the university. Here he worked with Christian Gellert and

Johann August Ernesti Johann August Ernesti (4 August 1707 – 11 September 1781) was a German Rationalist theologian and philologist. Ernesti was the first who formally separated the hermeneutics of the Old Testament from those of the New. Biography Ernesti was bor ...

. In 1764 he began a

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

of Germany and France. Going to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in 1768 he got a post as tutor to the children of Minister Teplof in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1769 he went to the University of

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...

in Saxony as a junior professor of Lower Mathematics. He quickly obtained a reputation as a competent teacher. From 1771 he began publishing newspapers and periodicals in Wittenberg. On 5 June 1783 he was the first German to fly in a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

during a visit to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, meeting with the

Montgolfier Brothers The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune A ...

. On return to Wittenberg the subject of aviation entered his lectures. In 1785 he became professor of combined Lower and Higher Mathematics at the University. In 1789 he built an observatory at his house at 16 Burgermeisterstrasse in Wittenberg.Plaque at 16 Burgermeisterstrasse He died in

on 18 March 1805.

Publications

*''The Beginnings of the Theory of Reason'' (1773) *''Nature for the Young'' (1777) *''Instruction in the Philosophical and Mathematical Sciences'' (1779) *''Biographies of Strange Creatures from the Animal Kingdom'' (1784) *''Natural History'' (1784) *''The Beginning of the Most Fine Parts of Natural Philosophy'' (1784) *''The Philosopher for Everyone'' (1786) *''Yearbook for Instructive Entertainment for Young Ladies'' (1795) *''Fables for Children and Young People'' (1810) posthumous

Periodicals

*''Tapeten'' 1771 to 1776 *''Wittenberg Scholarly Newspaper'' 1778 to 1785 *''Wittenberg Magazine'' 1781 to 1784 *''Wittenberger Weekly Speak'' 1801 to 1804

References

1737 births 1805 deaths 18th-century German mathematicians German journalists German non-fiction writers People from Wittenberg {{Germany-writer-stub