Steinheil, Karl August

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STEINHEIL, KARL AUGUST

(b. Rappoltsweiler [now Ribeauvillè], Alsace, 12 October 1801; d. Munich, Germany, 12 September 1870)

physics, astronomy.

Steinheil was the son of Karl Philipp Steinheil, administrator of the estates of a German prince (later Maximilian I of Bavaria), and the former Christine Maria Franziska von Biarowsky. She bore their son after twenty-four years of matrimony. The family moved to Munich in 1807 but the boy did not attend public school because of his delicate health. He was educated by private tutors; and after two years spent at Nancy and Tours with relatives of his mother’s he passed the examination for the school certificate. In 1821 Steinheil began to study law at Erlangen, but in 1823 he turned to science, especially astronomy, at Göttingen and Königsberg. At the latter he received the Ph.D. on 12 October 1825, under Bessel’s supervision, for the dissertation “De specialibus coelichartis elaborantis.”

Steinheil continued his astronomical and optical studies at his estate near Munich. He became known to experts in the field for editing three hours of the Berliner akademische Sternkarten and, later, for his prize-winning paper “Elemente der Helligkeitsmessungen am Sternenhimmel” (1837). In 1832 he was named ordinary professor of mathematics and physics at Munich University. From 1849 to 1852 he organized telegraph communications in Austria, then returned to Munich, where he worked in the Ministry of Commerce as a technical consultant. Fulfilling a special desire of Maximilian I, Steinheil founded an optical workshop (1854) that was continued by his son and grandson. In his last years he was conservator of the mathematical and physical collections of the Bavarian Academy at Munich.

Steinheil exerted great influence on the scientific life at Munich. He was a keen-witted discoverer and inventor, especially in optics and telegraphy. In 1838 he theorized that the earth could serve as the second half of a telegraphic circuit; and in 1842 he constructed an ingenious photometer. Steinheil also improved the achromatic telescope (some of this work was done with P. L. von Seidel), designed silvered mirrors for reflectors, and stimulated progress in the establishment of standard weights, electrodeposition, daguerreotypy, and fire prevention.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Steinheil’s wirtings include “Elemente der Helligkeits messungen am Sternenhimmel,” in Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Math-phys. KI., 2 (1837), 1–140; “über quantitative Analyse durch physikalische Beobachtungen,” ibid.,3 (1842), 689–716; “Über die Bestimmung der Brechungs- und Zerstreuungsverhältnisse verschiedene Medien,” ibid.,5 Abt. 2 (1850), 253–268, written with P. L. von Seidel; “Beschreibung und Vergleichung der galvanischen Telegraphen Deutschlands nach Besichtigung vom April 1849,” ibid., Abt. 3, 779–840; “Beiträge zur Photometrie des Himmels,” in Astronomische Nachrichten, 48 (1858), 369–378; “Über Berichtigung des Äquatoreals,” ibid.,52 (1860), 129–140; “Das Chronoskop,” in Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Math-phys. KI., 10 Abt. 2 (1868), 357–387; and “Methode, eine zylindrischen durch Fortbewegung eines zylindrischen Massstabes in Gestalt eines Rades zu messen,” in Astronomische Nachrichten, 72 (1868), 369–378.