Christian Ludwig Gerling

Christian Ludwig Gerling (* July 10, 1788 in Hamburg, † January 15, 1864 in Marburg ) was a German mathematician, astronomer and physicist.

Life

Gerling's father, who also bore the name of Christian Ludwig Gerling, was pastor at St. Jacobi in Hamburg. Gerling attended the Johanneum. His teacher Karl Friedrich Hipp, of the further development of the 12 -year-old took care of after the death of his father, sent him in 1809 to the University of Helmstedt. There, although he was enrolled for theology, but still attended a mathematics lecture at Johann Friedrich Pfaff. When the University of Helmstedt in 1810 closed, he joined, as well as Pfaff, at the Georg-August -Universität Göttingen. There he was soon working together with his childhood friend Johann Franz Encke - whose early late father had been a deacon also active at St. Jacobi - at the observatory under Carl Friedrich Gauss and Karl Ludwig Harding. After he had given up his theological studies, he received his doctorate in 1812 with a thesis Gauss for the calculation of solar eclipses. In the same year he became a professor at the Lyceum in Kassel. In 1817 he received a professorship at the University of Marburg on the vacant professorship of mathematics. There he remained until his death, although he received many attractive offer for a change.

In 1814 he married Christiane Suabedissen. The couple had one son and three daughters.

Work

Already in Göttingen had Gerling path calculations employed to 1807 discovered minor planet Vesta, which he still continued for some time. He also had 1815 written by the late 1807 school teacher Johann Friedrich Lorenz and published highly acclaimed work plan of pure and applied mathematics in a new edition. In contrast to his supervisor Gauss Gerling took a liking to the education of students. Julius Plücker his doctorate in 1823 at Gerling. Both were in close contact. Like Gauss, he also dealt with studies on magnetism. Furthermore, Gerling was responsible for the expansion of the physical laboratory in Marburg.

From 1822 to 1837 Gerling was entrusted with the first nationwide survey of the Electorate of Hesse. He created the required therefor surveying property network and thus also the basis for modern topographic maps and land surveying. He reached this developed by Gauss surveying techniques, including through the use of a heliotrope, which allowed soundings over very long distances with correspondingly high accuracy.