Wilhelm Julius Foerster
Wilhelm Julius Foerster ( born December 16, 1832 in Grünberg ( Silesia), † January 18, 1921 in Bornim, today Potsdam ) was a German astronomer.
Family
From 1868 to 1908 he was married to Ina Foerster, born Paschen. They had three sons and two daughters. Their first son was the philosopher and pacifist Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster (1869-1966), an opponent of National Socialism. The second son was the perennial growers and natural philosopher Karl Foerster ( 1874-1970 ). The third son, Ernst Foerster (1876-1955), was a ship builder Blohm & Voss, head of the ship being of the Hamburg -America Line, as well as editor of the magazine " shipyard, shipping company, port ".
Life and work
Wilhelm Foerster visited in 1847, the Maria Magdalena Gymnasium in Breslau. From 1850 to 1854 he studied mathematics, physics, art history and later astronomy at the University of Bonn under Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander. From 1855 on, he worked as a second assistant and since 1860 as first assistant to Johann Franz Encke, the former director of the Berlin Observatory. Together with Otto Lesser 1860 he discovered the asteroid (62 ) Erato.
In 1858 he completed his habilitation at the University of Berlin, and was appointed in 1863 to associate professor. In the same year he became a deputy after the illness of Encke. After Encke's death he took over in 1865, the Office of the Director, a position he held until 1903. One of his first duties as head of the observatory was the renewal and modernization of the instruments. So a 7 " meridian telescope was the Fraunhofer refractor, with the Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune in 1846, revised and commissioned and erected. Among his other duties included the organization of the time service, the exact degree of measurement ( longitude and latitude ) and the monitoring of terrestrial magnetism. Foerster let the clock of the observatory provided with electrical contacts and sent via cable precise time signals to the Berlin central telegraph station.
Together with Johann Jacob Baeyer Foerster made a memorandum " memorandum on the organization of an institute for higher Meßkunde ". They submitted this on 16 March 1867 at the Prussian Ministry of Culture; This led in 1870 to the founding of the Royal Prussian Geodetic Institute in Berlin.
In 1871 he published a memorandum on the establishment of an observatory to observe the sun. This gave impetus to the establishment of the Astrophysical Observatory and later the establishment of the Einstein Tower in Potsdam. In 1874 he founded the Astronomical Computing Center, the calculated inter alia, the tracks of a large number of asteroids. In 1875, his appeal was promoted to full professor.
Foerster was in 1870 appointed Director of the normal CALIBRATE Commission, the then so-called top- verification authority, the North German Confederation and the German Empire in 1871. In 1872 he was sent as one of Germany's representative in the International Committee for uniform global introduction of the metric system, from which the Metre Convention emerged in 1875. The negotiations of the Metre Convention failed in 1875 thanks to his negotiating skills not. Wilhelm Foerster played a decisive role in the study of noctilucent clouds that have been observed since 1885. His colleague Otto Jesse she studied for several years.
Together with Werner von Siemens and Max Wilhelm Meyer founded Foerster 1888, the Urania Astronomical Society. He was chairman of the Association of Friends of Astronomy and Cosmic Physics, which sought a widespread astronomical knowledge and inspired amateur astronomical activities. From 1891 to 1920 he was president of the International Committee of Weights and Measures. In 1899 he founded with Carl Theodor Albrecht and Friedrich Robert Helmert the International Latitude Service.
Foerster was a member of the German Society for Ethical Culture ( in the Albert Einstein was also a member ) and the German Peace Society, because he rejected the widely used end of the 19th century ideas of nationalism. In 1914 he signed the Appeal to the Europeans.
Honors
To commemorate Wilhelm Foerster Wilhelm- Foerster Observatory in Berlin and the asteroid ( 6771 ) Foerster were named. At the house Ahornallee 32 in Berlin -Westend, lived in the Foerster from 1904 to 1911, a Berlin memorial plaque was unveiled on 4 June 2009.
Esperanto
Lecture on June 1, 1912 in the Civil hall ( Rotes Rathaus, Berlin) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Esperanto on the importance of Esperanto for all areas of culture.
Advisory Board Member of " Internacia ScienCa Asocio Esperantista ( ISAE ) ," whose chairman Hippolyte Sebert was.