Franz Aepinus
Franz Aepinus | |
---|---|
Born | 13 December 1724 Livonia, Russian Empire |
Nationality | German, Russian |
Scientific career | |
Fields | electricity and magnetism, astronomy |
Franz Ulrich Theodor Aepinus (13 December 1724 – 10 August 1802) was a
Early life
He was born at
Career
After studying
The rest of his life was spent at
: 53 and endeavored, without success, to establish normal schools throughout the empire under his direction.[2] In 1760, Aepinus was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[1]: 49Works
His principal work, Tentamen Theoriae Electricitatis et Magnetismi (An Attempt at a Theory of Electricity and Magnetism), published at St. Petersburg in 1759, was the first systematic attempt to apply mathematical reasoning to these subjects. He also published a treatise, in 1761, De Distributione Caloris per Tellurem (On the Distribution of Heat in the Earth), and he was the author of memoirs on different subjects in astronomy, mechanics, optics and pure mathematics, contained in the journals of the learned societies of St. Petersburg and Berlin.
His discussion of the effects of parallax in the transit of a planet over the sun's disc excited great interest, having appeared (in 1764) between the dates of the two transits of Venus that took place in the 18th century.[2]
Electrical theories
Aepinus was the first to show that a theory of action at a distance for electricity provides simple explanation for experimental findings now known as electrostatic induction, laying the foundations for electrostatics[3]: 52 His theory resembled Newton's approach to gravity in that it relied on unexplained action at a distance;[1] also like Newton Aepinus believed that the transmission of force required contact.[4] These seeming contradictions reflect the modern scientific concept of approximate models of physical phenomena.
Henry Cavendish devised theories of electricity which were essentially the same, yet had been framed without any communication between these two philosophers. Aepinus published his theory about ten years before that of Cavendish. These are theories which eventually put to rest the idea of two fluids.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Home, Roderick Weir. "Aepinus's Essay on the Theory of Electricity and Magnetism". United States, Princeton University Press, 2015.
- ^ a b c public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aepinus, Franz Ulrich Theodor". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 258. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ISBN 978-0-486-26126-3.
- ISSN 0096-3771.
Further reading
- Heilbron, John L. (1970). "Aepinus, Franz Ulrich Theodosius". ISBN 0-684-10114-9.
- Essay on the Theory of Electricity and Magnetism by Roderick Weir Home.
External links
- Electricity entry in Edinburgh Encyclopaedia of 1832
- ScienceWorld.
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Franz Aepinus", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews