astronomy

Wilhelm Eduard Weber

Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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 Wilhelm Eduard Weber rather than just read about it. In short: Wilhelm Eduard Weber ( WEB-er or VEY-ber; German: [ˈveːbɐ] ; 24 October 1804 – 23 June 1891) was a German physicist and, together with Carl Friedrich Gauss, inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph. Biography Early years Weber was born in Schlossstrasse in Wittenberg, where his father, Michael Weber, was Professor of Theology at the local university.

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Reference excerpt

Biography

Early years Weber was born in Schlossstrasse in Wittenberg, where his father, Michael Weber, was Professor of Theology at the local university. The building in which they lived had previously been the home of Abraham Vater. Wilhelm was the second of three brothers, all of whom were distinguished by an aptitude for science. After the dissolution of the University of Wittenberg in 1817, his father was transferred to the university in Halle. Wilhelm had received his first lessons from his father, but was now sent to the Orphan Asylum and Grammar School in Halle. After that he entered the university and devoted himself to natural philosophy. He distinguished himself so much in his classes, and by original work, that after taking his degree of Doctor and becoming a Privatdozent, he was appointed as Professor Extraordinarius of Natural Philosophy at Halle.

Career In 1831, on the recommendation of Carl Friedrich Gauss, he was hired by the University of Göttingen as professor of physics, at the age of twenty-seven. His lectures were interesting, instructive, and suggestive. Weber thought that, in order to thoroughly understand physics and apply it to daily life, mere lectures, though illustrated by experiments, were insufficient, and he encouraged his students to experiment themselves, free of charge, in the college laboratory. As a student of twenty years he, with his brother, Ernst Heinrich Weber, Professor of Anatomy at Leipzig, had written a book on the Wave Theory and Fluidity, which brought its authors a considerable reputation. Acoustics was a favourite science of his, and he published numerous papers upon it in Poggendorffs Annalen, Schweigger's Jahrbücher für Chemie und Physik, and the musical journal Carcilia. The 'mechanism of walking in mankind' was another study, undertaken in conjunction with his younger brother, Eduard Weber. These important investigations were published between the years 1825 and 1838. Gauss and Weber constructed the first electromagnetic telegraph in 1833, which connected the observatory with the institute for physics in Göttingen. In December 1837, the Hanoverian government dismissed Weber, one of the Göttingen Seven, from his post at the university for political reasons. Weber then travelled for a time, visiting England, among other countries, and became professor of physics in Leipzig from 1843 to 1849, when he was reinstated at Göttingen. One of his most important works, co-authored with Carl Friedrich Gauss and Carl Wolfgang Benjamin Goldschmidt, was Atlas des Erdmagnetismus: nach den Elementen der Theorie entworfen (Atlas of Geomagnetism: Designed according to the elements of the theory), a series of magnetic maps, and it was chiefly through his efforts that magnetic observatories were instituted. He studied magnetism with Gauss, and during 1864 published his Electrodynamic Proportional Measures containing a system of absolute measurements for electric currents, which forms the basis of those in use. Weber died in Göttingen, where he is buried in the same cemetery as Max Planck and Max Born.

He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1855. In 1855, with Rudolf Kohlrausch (1809–1858), he demonstrated that the ratio of electrostatic to electromagnetic units produced a number that matched the speed of light. This finding led to Maxwell's conjecture that light is an electromagnetic wave. This also led to Weber's development of his theory of electrodynamics. Also, the first usage of the letter "c" to denote the speed of light was in an 1856 paper by Kohlrausch and Weber.

International recognition The SI unit of magnetic flux, the weber (symbol: Wb) is named after him.

Works Elektrodynamische Maaßbestimmungen : insbesondere Zurückführung der Stromintensitäts-Messungen auf mechanisches Maass (with Wilhelm Weber) 1857. "Electrodynamic Measurements, Especially Attributing Mechanical Units to Measures of Current Intensity". German text. English translation Akustik, Mechanik, Optik und Wärmelehre (in German). Berlin: Springer. 1892. Wellenlehre (in German). Berlin: Springer. 1893. Galvanismus und Elektrodynamik (in German). Berlin: Springer. 1894. Mechanik der menschlichen Gehwerkzeuge (in German). Berlin: Springer. 1894.

See also German inventors and discoverers International System of Electrical and Magnetic Units Bifilar coil Needle telegraph Vector magnetic potential Weber electrodynamics

References

Sources Gauss, Carl Friedrich; Weber, Wilhelm Eduard (1840). "Atlas Des Erdmagnetismus: Nach Den Elementen Der Theorie Entworfen". Leipzig: Weidmann'sche Buchhandlung. wilhelm weber. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) G.C.F. (George Carey Foster) (1891). "Wilhelm Eduard Weber". Nature. 44 (1132). Macmillan Journals ltd.: 229–230. Bibcode:1891Natur..44..229G. doi:10.1038/044229b0. S2CID 4060786. Retrieved 16 November 2007. – obituary Urbanitsky, Alfred; Wormell, Richard (1886). "Electricity in the Service of Man". London: Cassell and Company: 756–758. wilhelm weber physics. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) – Telegraph of Weber and Gauss (with pictures) "Weber, Wilhelm Eduard". Virtual Laboratory. Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin. Retrieved 5 September 2007. Jackson, Myles W. (2006). Harmonious Triads: Physicists, Musicians, and Instrument Makers in Nineteenth-Century Germany. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-27615-1.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wilhelm Eduard Weber

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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 Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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 Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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 Wilhelm Eduard Weber

In research: Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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 Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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: Wilhelm Eduard Weber is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1804 births, 1891 deaths, 19th-century German physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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

What is Wilhelm Eduard Weber in simple terms?

Wilhelm Eduard Weber ( WEB-er or VEY-ber; German: [ˈveːbɐ] ; 24 October 1804 – 23 June 1891) was a German physicist and, together with Carl Friedrich Gauss, inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph. Biography Early years Weber was born in Schlossstrasse in Wittenberg, where his father, Micha…

Why does Wilhelm Eduard Weber 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 Wilhelm Eduard Weber?

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.

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