physics

Georg von Neumayer

Georg von Neumayer is a physics 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 von Neumayer rather than just read about it. In short: Georg Balthazar von Neumayer (21 June 1826 – 24 May 1909) was a German polar explorer and scientist who was a proponent of the idea of international cooperation for meteorology and scientific observation. He served as a hydrographer for the German Empire and was a founder of the Wilhelmshaven Observatory and the German Maritime Observatory which he directed from 1875.

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Reference excerpt

Georg Balthazar von Neumayer (21 June 1826 – 24 May 1909) was a German polar explorer and scientist who was a proponent of the idea of international cooperation for meteorology and scientific observation. He served as a hydrographer for the German Empire and was a founder of the Wilhelmshaven Observatory and the German Maritime Observatory which he directed from 1875. He was involved in establishing telegraphic networks for the sharing of meteorological data as well as promoting observatories in the Antarctic and Australia. Along with Carl Weyprecht, he was a founder of the International Polar Commission in 1879. In 1900, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown with the associated title of Ritter von Neumayer.

Biography

Early years Born in Kirchheimbolanden, Palatinate, Neumayer was the fifth child of notary Georg and his wife Theresia, née Kirchner. He went to the Frankenthal gymnasium as well as schools in Speyer and Kaiserlautern before he went to study geophysics and hydrography at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Munich, Bavaria in 1849.

Australia

Neumayer was one of a number of influential German-speaking residents — such as Ludwig Becker, Hermann Beckler, William Blandowski, Amalie Dietrich, Wilhelm Haacke, Diedrich Henne, Gerard Krefft, Johann Luehmann, Johann Menge, Carl Mücke (a.k.a. Muecke), Ludwig Preiss, Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker (a.k.a. Ruemker), Moritz Richard Schomburgk, Richard Wolfgang Semon, Karl Theodor Staiger, George Ulrich, Eugene von Guérard, Robert von Lendenfeld, Ferdinand von Mueller, and Carl Wilhelmi — who brought their "epistemic traditions" to Australia, and not only became "deeply entangled with the Australian colonial project", but also were "intricately involved in imagining, knowing and shaping colonial Australia" (Barrett, et al., 2018, p.2). Between 1858 and 1863, he, and a team of assistants, extracted data from hundreds of ship logbooks that was then analysed to find the best route of maximum speed and safety for sailing ships travelling between Europe and Australia. To obtain the logbooks he placed advertisements in the Victorian Government Gazette, and posted signs at the Melbourne Customs House, requesting the masters of arriving vessels to deposit their logbooks at his offices in the Flagstaff Observatory with a promise they would be returned within four days. More than 600 logs were examined and the information extracted was analysed, and the conclusions published in the second half of a book published in 1864. He was also involved in continuing studies begun earlier to drop bottles with messages to reconstruct currents based on recoveries. Neumayer was elected a councillor of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1859, a vice-president in 1860 and a life member in 1864. He was elected to honorary membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on 17 April 1894.

Burke and Wills Expedition

William John Wills, second-in-command of the Burke and Wills expedition succeeded J. W. Osborne as Neumayer's assistant at the Flagstaff Observatory until the expedition departed from Melbourne on 20 August 1860. Neumayer was a member of the Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria which organised the Expedition. Neumayer joined the Expedition at Swan Hill in order to conduct his magnetic observations. He remained with Burke and Wills as far as the Darling River at Bilbarka, before returning to the settled districts of Victoria.

Legacy

Later, he organized the "Gazelle Expedition" (1874-1876), so named as it was conducted aboard the German steam frigate SMS Gazelle. He was director of the hydrographic organisation Deutsche Seewarte (1876-1903). He chaired the International Polar Commission in 1879 together with Karl Weyprecht, founding the first International Polar Year from 1882 to 1883 and the Antarctic Year 1901. In 1895, von Neumayer had established the German Commission for South Polar Exploration, which culminated in the First German Antarctica Expedition in 1901, the so-called Gauss expedition. In 1890, he co-authored the first cloud atlas. Polar explorer Roald Amundsen came to study under Neumayer in 1900. In the same year, Neumayer was designated a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown, including the right to furthermore have his surname preceded by 'Ritter von' ('Knight of'). Neumayer died in 1909 in Neustadt an der Weinstraße. He gave his name to the German Polar Research Station in Antarctica, the now abandoned "Neumayer Station". This year-round manned station is totally covered with ice and snow (buried 10 meters under the surface) and is situated in the Weddell-Sea area (08 15W, 70 35S). The successor was the Neumayer Station II which was then abandoned itself. The only station in use now is the Neumayer Station III. Research topics are permanent observations of the Earth's magnetic field, seismological registrations, infrasonic, meteorological and air chemistry investigations.

Bibliography Georg Neumayer, "Die internationale Polarforschung" (Berlin 1886 / 2 volumes). Georg Neumayer, "Auf zum Südpol" (Berlin 1901). Georg Neumayer, "Description and system of working of the Flagstaff Observatory". In J. Macadam (Ed.), Transactions of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria: From January to December 1858 inclusive. Vol. III. (Melbourne 1859). Georg Neumayer, "Results of the Magnetic Survey of the Colony of Victoria. Executed during the years 1858-1864" (Mannheim 1869). Edward Heis and George Neumayer, "On Meteors in the Southern Hemisphere" (Mannheim 1867).

Notes

References Barrett, Lindsay; Eckstein, Lars; Hurley, Andrew Wright; Schwarz, Anja (2018). "Remembering German-Australian colonial entanglement: An introduction". Postcolonial Studies. 21: 1–5. doi:10.1080/13688790.2018.1443671. Home, R.W. (2011). "Neumayer, Humboldt and the search for a global physics". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 123: 2. doi:10.1071/RS11002. Douglas Morrison, "Georg Neumayer's magnetic survey of the colony of Victoria 1858-1864," Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 123 (1) 2011, pp. 48–61. Serle, Percival (1949). "Neumayer, Georg Balthasar von". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Georg von Neumayer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Georg von Neumayer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 von Neumayer 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 von Neumayer 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 von Neumayer

In research: Georg von Neumayer appears in physics 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 von Neumayer 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 von Neumayer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1826 births, 1909 deaths, 19th-century Australian public servants, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Georg von Neumayer 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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Frequently asked questions

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