science

Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau

Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau is a science 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau rather than just read about it. In short: Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau (17 July 1769 – 17 May 1857) was a German naturalist and explorer, medical doctor, draftsman and engraver. He was a member of the Order of St.

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Reference excerpt

Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau (17 July 1769 – 17 May 1857) was a German naturalist and explorer, medical doctor, draftsman and engraver. He was a member of the Order of St. Vladimir and of the Legion of Honour.

Early life and education Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius was born in Mühlhausen (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) on 17 July 1769. His father was a merchant and actuary and his mother the daughter and sister of surgeons. It was his mother's brother who introduced the young Tilesius to the natural sciences and drawing. In 1790 Tilesius began studies of natural sciences and medicine at the University of Leipzig, and at the same time took drawing lessons from Adam Friedrich Oeser at the art academy in the Pleissenburg. He completed his master's degree of arts in 1795, graduated as a doctor of philosophy in 1797, and in 1801 as a doctor of medicine. In 1795-96 he traveled with the earl and scientist Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg by ship to Portugal. On this trip he studied marine animals, as well as the teaching and practice of medicine in Portugal. The results were published in several papers.

Appointment in Moscow and role in Russian circumnavigation

In 1803 he was appointed professor at Moscow University. He participated as a ship's doctor, marine biologist and expedition artist on the frigate Nadezhda in the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe during 1803-1806 under Adam Johann von Krusenstern. The Nadezhda departed from Kronstadt on the Baltic Sea, with Tlesius joining the expedition at Copenhagen; included among his baggage were a violin and viola, which he played on the voyage. The Nadezhda sailed past the Canary Islands and Brazil, around Cape Horn and across the Pacific Ocean to Japan, stopping at the Marquesas and Hawaiian islands, and also at Kamchatka. After visiting Japan, the Nadezhda set off towards Alaska, then sailed past China to the Indian Ocean, around Africa and back to the Baltic. Tilesius made numerous sketches and watercolors during the trip, particularly after the official artist departed in Japan. Honors Tilesius received on his return included being made a knight in the Order of St. Vladimir, corresponding membership of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, and a lifetime pension of 300 rubles per year. His illustrated report on the expedition appeared in 1814. However, he did not win public recognition like his contemporary, Alexander von Humboldt.

Later life

On 12 May 1807 he married Olympia von Sitzky, 20 years his junior, daughter of a Polish nobleman. A son Adolf was born the following year, but they were separated in 1809. One of his projects while in Russia was to reconstruct the skeleton of the Adams mammoth, a woolly mammoth whose nearly intact frozen carcass was excavated from the Siberian permafrost in 1806. This represented one of the earliest attempts to reconstruct the skeleton of an extinct animal. (Tilesius made one notable error in this effort, exchanging the tusks so that they diverged instead of converged.) In 1814, Tilesius returned from Russia to his hometown of Mühlhausen and put his son in the care of his grandmother. He continued to lecture and publish on zoological, medical and ethnographic subjects, and attained membership in a number of scientific societies across Europe and in the United States, but did not obtain another academic position. He spent most of the rest of his life in Mühlhausen and Leipzig, and died in Mühlhausen (by then part of Prussia) in 1857.

Selected publications 1799: "Addendum to the correction of individual views in the painting of Lisbon and individual fragments of an eyewitness to the knowledge of this capital city." In: [Joseph-François Barthélémy Carr], Latest paintings of Lisbon. With an appendix from the French by W. Tilesius. Leipzig, Karl Wilhelm Küchl (pp. 321–504). 1799: Johann Christian Rosenmüller / Tilesius William Gottlieb (ed.), Description of strange caves. A contribution to the physical history of the earth. Leipzig, Breitkopf and Haertel. 1800: Directory and classification of strange sea creatures 1800: "On the state of the art of dissection in Portugal." In: Johann Christian Rosenmüller / Henry F. Isenflamm (ed.), Contributions to the art of dissection. Volume 1, Issue 3, Leipzig, Tauchnitz (pp. 383–435). 1802: On the so-called sea mice [marine polychaete worms of genus Aphrodita] 1802: Year Book of Natural History for the display and evaluation of new discoveries and observations. Vol. 1, Leipzig, Karl Wilhelm Küchl. 1813: Fruits of the natural history of the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth

Notes

See also Category:Taxa named by Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau

References

External links Adorning the world: art of the Marquesas Islands, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau (nos. 19-21)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau

In research: Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau appears in science 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1769 births, 1857 deaths, 18th-century German engravers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau in simple terms?

Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau (17 July 1769 – 17 May 1857) was a German naturalist and explorer, medical doctor, draftsman and engraver. He was a member of the Order of St.

Why does Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau?

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 Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau.