astronomy

Georg August Goldfuss

Georg August Goldfuss is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Georg August Goldfuss rather than just read about it. In short: Georg August Goldfuß (18 April 1782 – 2 October 1848) was a German palaeontologist, zoologist and botanist. He became a professor of zoology at the University of Erlangen and later at the University of Bonn.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Georg August Goldfuß (18 April 1782 – 2 October 1848) was a German palaeontologist, zoologist and botanist. He became a professor of zoology at the University of Erlangen and later at the University of Bonn. He coined the terms "protozoa" and "pelecypoda".

Life and work Goldfuß was born at Thurnau near Bayreuth. His father, a court physician, Johann August Goldfuß (1748–85) died in an accident on a voyage to the East Indies. His mother Margarete née Waechter died in 1799. After studies at the Latin school in Thurnau, he went to study medicine in 1800 first at Arzberg and then at the Collegium Medico-chirurgium in Berlin. At Berlin he was influenced by lectures by Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765-1812). He received a scholarship from the Prussian government, and he dedicated his thesis to the officer Karl Freiherr vom Stein zum Altenstein (1770-1840). He completed his doctorate at Erlangen in 1804 with a thesis on South African beetles. He worked briefly at the natural history collection in Erlangen but lost the position after the French invasion of 1806. He edited the magazine Politische Zeitung, and in 1808, he was a founder of a medical law firm in Erlangen. After serving as a private tutor for Baron Winkler von Mohrenfels in Helmhofen he considered moving to Calcutta, but this was scuttled by a blockade imposed by Napoleon. Following the vacancies created by the death of his teachers Johann von Schreber (1739-1810) and Eugen Esper (1742-1810), he worked as a lecturer in zoology from 1811 and became professor of zoology at the University of Erlangen. He was admitted to the Leopoldina Academy in 1813. In 1818, he moved to the newly established Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn where he was involved in establishing a natural history museum. He took a keen interest in fossils and introduced the term protozoa in that year although he included not just single-celled organisms but included polyps, bryozoans and rotifers. He was subsequently appointed professor of zoology and mineralogy at the University of Bonn. Aided by Count Georg zu Münster, he issued the important Petrefacta Germaniae (1826–44), a work which was intended to illustrate the invertebrate fossils of Germany, but it was left incomplete after the sponges, corals, crinoids, echinoderms and part of the mollusca had been figured. A collection of Goldfuß' botanical specimens are housed at Bonn University. 06.04.2024)

Goldfuß married Eleonore Oelhafen (1789-1873) in 1815 and they had five sons and six daughters. One of his sons, Otto Goldfuß (1831-1905), became a malacologist. He received an Order of the Red Eagle III Class from the Prussian empire in 1822. He was a Freemason and a member of the Lebanon lodge of Erlangen. He built a large home Rosenburg in Kessenich, Bonn. He suffered from chest disease from 1847 and died from a stroke. He was buried in Poppelsdorf. A street in Bonn was named after him.

Publications Enumeratio Insectorum Eleutheratorum Capitis Bonae Spei totiusque Africae descriptione iconibusque nonnullarum specierum novarum, Erlangen 1804 Die Umgebungen von Muggendorf. Ein Taschenbuch für Freunde der Natur und Alterthumskunde, Erlangen 1810 Scanned book Mikroskopische Beobachtungen über die Metamorphose des vegetabilischen und animalischen Lebens, in: Abhandlungen der Erlanger Societät, Band 1, Erlangen 1810 Naturbeschreibung der Säugethiere, Erlangen 1812 Über die Metamorphose des animalischen und vegetabilischen Lebens, in: Abhandlungen der Erlanger Societät, Band 2, Erlangen 1812 Physikalisch-statistische Beschreibung des Fichtelgebirges, mit G. Bischof, Nürnberg 1817 Zweiter Theil Scanned book Ueber die Entwicklungsstufen des Thieres, Nürnberg 1817 Scanned book (Nachdruck Basilisken-Presse, Marburg 1979) Handbuch der Zoologie, Nürnberg 1818 Scanned book Beschreibung eines fossilen Vielfraß-Schädels aus der Gailenreuther Höle, in: Novis Actis physico-medicis Acad. Caesareae Leopolodino-Carolinae naturae curiosum, Erlangen 1818 Ein Wort über die Bedeutung naturwissenschaftlicher Institute und über ihren Einfluss auf humane Bildung, Bonn 1821. (Scanned book) Naturhistorischer Atlas, 1.–23. Heft, Düsseldorf 1824–1843 Tafel 101–200 Scanned book Naturhistorischer Atlas, [nebst] Erl. 1 – 4., Arnz, Düsseldorf 1826 Digitized Grundriß der Zoologie, Nürnberg 1826, 2. Auflage 1834 Scanned book Beiträge zur Petrefactenkunde. 1838 Scanned book Petrefacta Germaniae. Tam ea, quae in museo universitatis Regia Borussicae Fridericiae Wilhelmiae Rhenanae servantur, quam alia quaecunque in museis Hoeninghusiano Muensteriano aliisque extant, iconibus et descriptionibus illustrata = Abbildungen und Beschreibungen der Petrefacten Deutschlands und der angränzenden Länder, unter Mitwirkung von Georg Graf zu Münster, Düsseldorf 1826–1844 Archive, Erster Theil. 2. Auflage 1862 Scanned book Der Schädelbau des Mosasaurus, durch Beschreibung einer neuen Art Gattung. Mainz 1842 Scanned book Beiträge zur vorweltlichen Fauna des Steinkohlengebirges. Bonn 1847 Scanned book Ein Seestern aus der Grauwacke. In: Verhandlungen des naturhistorischen Vereines der preussischen Rheinlande, 5, Bonn 1848, Tafel 5 (Digitalisat), S. 145–146 (Scanned book)

References

Attribution:

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Goldfuss, Georg August". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 211.

Literature Georg Uschmann (1964). "Goldfuß, August". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 6. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 605–605. Wolfhart Langer: Georg August Goldfuß - Ein biographischer Beitrag in: Bonner Geschichtsblätter, Band 23/1969, S. 229-243

External links Goldfuss Museum Georg August Goldfuss in the German National Library catalogue

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Georg August Goldfuss

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Georg August Goldfuss claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Georg August Goldfuss before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Georg August Goldfuss ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Georg August Goldfuss

In research: Georg August Goldfuss appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Georg August Goldfuss in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Georg August Goldfuss is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1782 births, 1848 deaths, 18th-century German botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Georg August Goldfuss outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Georg August Goldfuss in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is Georg August Goldfuss in simple terms?

Why does Georg August Goldfuss matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Georg August Goldfuss?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Georg August Goldfuss.