Friedrich Robert Helmert
Friedrich Robert Helmert ( born July 31, 1843 in Freiberg, Saxony, † June 15, 1917 in Potsdam ) was a German mathematician and surveyor.
Life and work
Helmert regarded as the founder of the mathematical and physical theories of modern geodesy and was the first who laid the foundations for the methods of geoid determination. They could be carried out until a few decades later to a greater extent because of the lack of suitable, suitable for field use measuring instruments but. Helmert founded the now classic definition of geodesy as a science of surveying and mapping the earth's surface.
To Helmerts important works is a two-volume, 1880 published textbook in which he founded the Theoretical Geodesy, a rapidly verbreitendes book on the curve fitting by least squares and treatises to the coordinate transformations method. Was named after him, a method often used to date, the so-called Helmert transformation. Also defined as the angle between the gravity vector and the ellipsoidal in a surface point deflection of the vertical is named after him, as is the Helmert ellipsoid, with the leading surveyor of his time could specify the axes of the earth ellipsoid accurately than other scientists in the next 50 years succeeded.
As director of the Institute Potsdam Geodetic (1886-1917) made Helmert Potsdam become the world center for scientific geodesy. He defined it - what is accepted in essence today - as the science of the earth's shape and gravity field of the Earth. The Potsdamer absolute value of the gravitational acceleration was from 1909 to 1971, the international reference value ( " Potsdam Gravity value").
Born in Freiberg, he studied from 1859 to 1863 at the former Royal Saxon Polytechnic School in Dresden under Prof. August Nagel, he received his doctorate in 1867 in Leipzig with the thesis " Studies on efficient surveys in the field of higher geodesy ". Due to his intelligence and his outstanding hard work he earned at the time included acknowledgments that were expressed in the award of commendation decrees.
Helmert was also president of the Central Bureau of International Geodesy, full member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, a foreign member of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, and a professor at the Technical University of Aachen (1870-1886) and at the Friedrich- Wilhelms- University of Berlin. He is probably the most quoted surveyor of all time, but his work suffers from today's perspective - as Karl leather Steger 1970 stated - to its somewhat complicated mathematical diction. This is probably connected with the fact that Helmert for a large number of geodetic tasks until the appropriate theories had to be developed.
Moreover, the introduction of the Chi -square distribution Helmert 1876 is attributed, even if the name only of Karl Pearson comes ( 1900).
The lunar crater Helmert is named after him, as is the astronomical- geodetic observation tower on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam ( Helmertturm ) as well as the Helmertplatz in his birth town of Freiberg. In Potsdam since November 6, 2001 helped the Professor - Doctor - Helmert -Straße his name, in Karlsruhe since 1960, the Helmertstraße.
On 8 July 2013 were the construction of a rd in Berne near Bremen. 42 m long research vessel christened Fugro HELMERT and lowered into the water.
The DVW - Society for Geodesy, Geoinformation and Land Management gives very special occasions Helmert commemorative coin to significant geodesics.
Writings (selection )
- The curve fitting by the least squares method: with applications to geodesy and the theory of measurement instruments. Publisher Teubner, Leipzig, 1872.
- The mathematical and physical theories of the Higher Geodesy, Volume I. Publisher Teubner, Leipzig 1880.
- The mathematical and physical theories of the Higher Geodesy, Volume II Publisher Teubner, Leipzig 1884.