Paul Frédéric Culmann (23 February 1860,

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

– 27 November 1936,

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 ...

) was a Swiss

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

known for contributions made in the field of

bryology Bryology (from Greek , a moss, a liverwort) is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of bryophytes ( mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Bryologists are people who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying ...

Biography

From 1878 to 1882 he studied physics at the Eidgenössischen Polytechnikum in Zurich, then continued his education in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, where he earned his PhD in 1885. Following graduation, he was employed at the "Maison Bréguet" in

(1885–93), and later worked as an instructor of physics and mathematics at the Technikum Winterthur (1893–98).Paul Frédéric Culmann (23.2.1860-27.11.1936)
Geschichte der Bryologie in der Schweiz (bibliography included) Afterwards, he returned to Paris, where he was associated with work done at the "Maison

Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practica ...

".BHL
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications

Research

Culmann was considered one on the leading Swiss bryologists during the early part of the 20th century. He collected thousands of moss specimens in Switzerland, mostly in the cantons of Zurich and

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

. During his career, he also collected extensively in France. In regards to the canton of Zurich, he published a directory of its mosses (1901), and later issued a listing of

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of ...

s native to the canton (1906). Furthermore, he was the author of numerous papers on findings from the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

, the canton of Ticino and also from France. As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are give ...

he described more than 20 species, subspecies and varieties that were new to science. The moss species ''Bryum culmannii'' is named after him, being circumscribed by Karl Gustav Limpricht in 1892.

Partial bibliography

* 1901 ''Verzeichnis der Laubmoose des Kantons Zürich''. — Mitteilungen der Naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft in Winterthur 3: 3–79. * 1903 ''Notes bryologiques sur les flores du canton de Zurich et des environs de Paris'', — Revue Bryologique 30: 89–92. * 1905 ''Contributions à la flore bryologique du canton de Bern''. — Revue Bryologique 32: 73–79. * 1906 ''Liste des Hépatiques du canton de Zurich'' — Revue Bryologique 33: 75–84. * 1906 ''Contributions à la flore bryologique Suisse''. — Revue Bryologique 33: 75–84. * 1908 ''Contributions à la flore bryologique Suisse et principalement à celle de l'Oberland bernois''. — Revue Bryologique 35: 19–28. * 1915 ''Contribution à la flore bryologique du canton du Tessin'', — Bulletin de la societé botanique de France 62, 4,15: 53-58. With

Jules Amann Jean Jules Amann (8 March 1859, Lausanne – 1 February 1939, Lausanne) was a Swiss pharmacist and botanist. He was a leading expert on mosses native to Switzerland.

and

Charles Meylan Charles Meylan (23 June 1868, Le Brassus – 3 June 1941, Sainte-Croix) was a Swiss botanist. From 1888 to 1926 he was a schoolteacher in the community of La Chaux, located near Sainte-Croix (Canton of Vaud). In 1922 he obtained an honorary d ...

, he was co-author of ''Flore des mousses de la Suisse'', (

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

: Imprimeries R'eunies S.A., 1912).Online Books Page
Flore des mousses de la Suisse

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culmann, Paul Frederic 1860 births 1936 deaths Scientists from Zürich Bryologists 19th-century Swiss botanists 20th-century Swiss botanists