astronomy

Wilhelm Julius Foerster

Wilhelm Julius Foerster 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 Julius Foerster rather than just read about it. In short: Wilhelm Julius Foerster (16 December 1832 – 18 January 1921) was a German astronomer. His name can also be written Förster, but is usually written "Foerster" even in most German sources where 'ö' is otherwise used in the text.

Key takeaways

Wilhelm Julius Foerster belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wilhelm Julius Foerster to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wilhelm Julius Foerster from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wilhelm Julius Foerster (16 December 1832 – 18 January 1921) was a German astronomer. His name can also be written Förster, but is usually written "Foerster" even in most German sources where 'ö' is otherwise used in the text.

Biography A native of Grünberg, Silesia, he studied at the University of Berlin and Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, and worked as Johann Franz Encke's assistant. In 1860, he co-discovered asteroid 62 Erato with Oskar Lesser, the first co-discovery on record. He became professor of astronomy at the University of Berlin in 1863. After Encke's death in 1865, he became director of the Berlin Observatory and served in this position until 1904. Foerster also taught the popular geologist Alfred Wegener astronomy. In 1868 he was appointed director of the commission established by the North German Confederation, and continued from 1871 by the German Empire, for the determination of standards of measurement. In this capacity, he superintended the reorganization of the German system of weights and measures on the metric basis. He was elected president of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in 1891. In 1888–89, Foerster co-founded the Urania in Berlin, an institution for astronomical education that reached out to the wider public. Foerster continued to be interested in popularizing the natural sciences. In 1892, he assisted in the founding of the German Society for Ethical Culture (GSEC; German: Deutsche Gesellschaft für ethische Kultur), in which Albert Einstein also participated. He was also a member of the German Peace Society (German: Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft), and resisted the rise in nationalism brought about by the outbreak of World War I. While he was among the 93 German intellectuals in signing the Aufruf an die Kulturwelt manifesto in support of the war, Foerster was one of only four intellectuals to sign the Aufruf an die Europäer counter-manifesto (the others were Albert Einstein, the philosopher Otto Buek, and its author, the physiologist Georg Friedrich Nicolai).

Legacy

The asteroid 6771 Foerster is named after him, and so is the Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte (Wilhelm Foerster Observatory; IAU code 544).

Publications Populäre Mitteilungen (2 vols., 1879 and 1884) Sammlung von Vorträgen und Abhandlungen (2 vols., 1887 and 1890) Studien zur Astrometrie (1888).

External links "Wilhelm Julius Foerster", FamilySearch

References

Illustrations

Wilhelm Julius Foerster: Wilhelm Julius Foerster, ca. 1905 — Wilhelm Julius Foerster, ca. 1905

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wilhelm Julius Foerster

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wilhelm Julius Foerster 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 Julius Foerster 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 Julius Foerster 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 Julius Foerster

In research: Wilhelm Julius Foerster 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 Julius Foerster 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 Julius Foerster is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1832 births, 1921 deaths, 19th-century German astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wilhelm Julius Foerster 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 Wilhelm Julius Foerster in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wilhelm Julius Foerster means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wilhelm Julius Foerster out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wilhelm Julius Foerster in simple terms?

Why does Wilhelm Julius Foerster 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 Julius Foerster?

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 Julius Foerster.