Joseph Zentmayer (March 27, 1826 — March 28, 1888) was a German-American maker of microscopes and other optical instruments. After graduating from the gymnasium in Mannheim, he was apprenticed to a local optician. After completing his apprenticeship, he associated himself with optical establishments in Karlsruhe, Frankfort, Munich, and Hamburg. Because of his pro-democracy support of the

1848 Revolution The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, he immigrated to the United States when he was about twenty-two years old. After working for wages in optical workshops in Baltimore and Philadelphia, Zentmayer started in 1858 his own shop in Philadelphia at the corner of Eighth Street and Chestnut Street. During the American Civil War, he provided most of the microscopes used in the U.S. government hospitals. He was appointed a member of the Iowa Total Eclipse Expedition in 1869 and contributed to the success of the expedition by his work on the photographic apparatus. The Centennial Model is on display at the

Delaware County Institute of Science The Delaware County Institute of Science is a science and natural history museum, library and education center in Media, Pennsylvania. It was organized in 1833 and contains exhibits of mounted animals and birds; fossils, shells and corals from aro ...

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolita ...

. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1873. In 1875 Zentmayer was awarded the

Elliott Cresson Medal The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848. The ...

of the Franklin Institute. In 1876 in Philadelphia, the United States Centennial Commission awarded him a bronze medal. In 1878 the Committee of Awards on Microscopes of the Paris Exhibition awarded him a silver medal and a diploma.

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An example of Zentmayer’s American Centennial model microscope
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zentmayer, Joseph 1826 births 1888 deaths German-American Forty-Eighters Engineers from Mannheim Microscopists American scientific instrument makers