Heinrich Geißler
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Geissler ( born May 26, 1814 Igelshieb; † 24 January 1879 in Bonn ) was a German glassblower, instrument maker and inventor of the Geissler tube, a glass low-pressure gas discharge tube.
Life
Origin and childhood
Johann Heinrich Geissler (then Duchy of Saxe Meiningen, today part of Neuhaus am Rennweg ) born on May 26, 1814 Igelshieb. Its typical for Thuringia 's birthplace, has (to date ) has hardly changed. This included a small piece of land and meadow for growing potatoes and goat rearing. Family Geissler found its basis in the domestic industry. In Igelshieb the Lampenglasbläserei had become native (most glassblowers were poor ). Therefore, women and child labor was inevitable. Many of the most skilled glassblowers tried by new and high quality products ( whose technology was secret ), economic stability to win, but this was not successful. This situation characterized the social environment of childhood by Heinrich Geissler and thus influenced his life decisively. His father, Georg Geissler, was one of the innovators among the glass-blowers, since he also dealt with the instrument, such as the construction of thermometers and barometers, which he sold at least temporarily. Johann Heinrich Geissler The specialized knowledge needed to Johann Heinrich Geissler acquire self-taught. Decisive was the book instructions designed to make matching thermometer and barometer from the mechanic and Dr. Friedrich Körner. From his mother Johanna Rosina Eichhorn came to the land and the house, which was the material basis for the work of the family. She had many children (a total of twelve). Three of them died before their death, one after her death. The cause of death is generally indicated on the meager lifestyle. The domestic industry was an important economic factor, but had oppressive social conditions result. Children had to help from the fourth or fifth year of life. Glassblower was not a dream job, but a pre-drawn plan of life without alternative for Henry and his siblings. Geissler family lived a little better than average. Georg Geissler his children could not be more than the mediation of its high labor skill, it would be historically inaccurate to embezzle this value. In the 30s of the 19th century developed outside the home industrial centers favorable opportunities for career advancement of a glass blower. This was the result of the recovery of the experimental natural sciences. Researchers needed devices that were adapted for them and therefore on the spot, had to be manufactured in close consultation with the craftsman. Therefore, universities offered intelligent and skilful glassblowers a relatively favorable field of activity. For this reason, Heinrich Geissler and his brothers left their homeland and after long wanderings, Heinrich Geissler in Bonn let down.
Years of travel
Geissler worked for more than a decade as an itinerant craftsmen. These years were important and of great importance for the improvement of his professional knowledge and his personal development. Some life data are known from these years:
Geissler undertook most likely on behalf of his father in 1832 a business trip. He attended inter alia, Munich and Ulm. According to police records, he spent in Munich, however, only a few days. Next there is a knowledgeable files stay in Bonn at the beginning of 1839. In February of the same year, the Office of Administration Sonnenberg sent a certificate issued for Holland and France passport through official channels. For the city of The Hague, a two -year stay can be proved, most likely 1845-1847. , The registration files of the city led Geissler as physical precision mechanic 's furnished in a room in the Oute Moolstraat lived. The association Diligentia, an association of scientists and laymen research, however, he was not a member.
In the Hague census of 1849 his name is no longer listed. In 1852, his stay in Bonn is assigned more than once archival. First residence Geissler was after traditions in Bonngasse, right next to the birthplace of Beethoven. After a few more changes of home, he moved in 1867 in the Castle Road 14 A short time later, he bought the house and adapting it by modifications to its operation.
Living in Bonn
Heinrich Geissler was due to his position as head of his company, was forced to join the profession of the craftsman, engineer and businessman. His company was highly regarded among the scientists of the world, but never became something bigger than a craft business. The reason was that he was announced as a report from the Vienna World Exposition, rather an unsurpassed artist of the glass structures was as a commercial organizer who could bring his company to a huge rise.
Heinrich Geissler received especially in his last years of life, many honors and awards; he took it gratefully, but did not overestimate it. In 1868, Geissler received, probably at the suggestion of August Kekulé and Hans Landolt, an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn. Heinrich Geissler held repeatedly lectures and essays from the public to his, by his earnest pursuit of scientific knowledge created, investigations and apparatus constructions for price or to pass.
Geissler lived modestly and in bourgeois simplicity. He married in 1865 in Giessen with the then 19 -year-old Mathilde Elisabethe ( called Elise ) Pietsch. Their marriage remained childless.
On January 24, 1879 Heinrich Geissler died in Bonn. Shortly afterwards, the newspaper Bonner wrote an obituary. This is that the meritorious man Heinrich Geissler, yesterday evening died at the age of 65 years by a second stroke and thus be effective rich and eventful life came to an end too soon. Furthermore, it is emphasized 'll be going home deplored by the entire citizenship of Bonn, on the basis of his sociability and his unselfish personality, with deepest grief.
He was buried at the historic cemetery Bonn on 27 January, 1879. His tomb is maintained until today by the City of Bonn.
In Igelshieb a local museum was, in his birthplace, furnished. This museum contains, among other things, a permanent exhibition on the life and work of Heinrich Geissler.
Inventions ( story)
Dr. Theodor Meyer, assistant at the Physics Cabinet in Bonn, wrote on September 1857 that Heinrich Geissler asked him to investigate one of his glass tubes on the phenomenon of stratification. He was so surprised that he asked Geissler to produce samples. It was not long until he had sold some of his glass tubes to be examined, the unknown phenomenon. Since the difficulty to create a vacuum in the conventional method has not yet been overcome, a short time later, he developed a special apparatus, which allowed him to evacuate its tubes, and to fill it with gas arbitrarily large clamping force.
At about the same time wrote Julius Plücker, Geißlersche tubes would rightly called Geißlersche, even if Heinrich Geissler was not the first, who anfertigte. Because he continued the work of others and perfected it. In addition Plücker said that not diminished Geissler work, but his work would only put in perspective.
It was already twenty years earlier with a glass egg electric current conduction in gases, often called gas discharge, systematically studied by anyone other than Michael Faraday. However, it should be mentioned that it had not yet managed to lead metal electrode gas-tight glass. One of the reasons could be the then-known pumps, because they were just making a rough vacuum to. For this reason, were at that time still important regularities undetected.
His brother living in Amsterdam, Frederick William Florence Geissler had 1856 platinum wires melted on behalf of the Dutchman van der Willigen in the Torricelli barometer emptiness of a tube and then melted. While this could be achieved the hitherto best vacuum; but as the Torricelli emptiness in nature, contains only mercury vapor, all studies were carried out in this way only one with this substance. The Geissler tube has no comparison with their precursors shy, because it brings three advantages. These would be the perfection of the electrode bushing, a relatively good vacuum and the free choice of the filling gas. The flagellants of specially constructed pump can not be described here. It must suffice to know that the degree of dilution could be increased to 300 times. Later, there were improvements (which were developed by different researchers ), which, finally, allowed to produce vacuums to 10hoch -6 Torr. At the same time we also developed variations of this tube, which were sometimes named after the names of their developers as Hittorf'sche, Crookes'sche or Perrin'sche tubes. The individual models could still not be separated from each other, probably because it is not the history of science relevant. There is no doubt that Heinrich Geissler at the right time had come to give the scientific research, the right tools in hand.
The physicist Heinrich Hertz cited as reasons for his interest in the light phenomena in dilute gases of Geissler tubes the beauty and diversity of the phenomena as well as the great theoretical interest in the unexplored field.
Awards and honors
Heinrich Geissler received for his work and his achievements only a few awards, because he had only one of his instruments that Vaporimeter, applied for a patent. Why were his other inventions, such as the mine safety lamp, only very few known. One of his awards was the recognition of an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn on 4 August 1868. It must be mentioned that he was the only one who has received an honorary doctorate in connection with the manufacture of glass apparatus and glass apparatus technology. Furthermore, Geissler was awarded a gold medal at the Paris World Exhibition in 1855. The awarding of the medal founded the members of the jury as follows: the instruments of the Lord Geissler are distinguished by accuracy and a very high sensitivity, and some of them wear new and useful properties. The jury specifically mentions the standard thermometer of the great competition, his Hypsometer ( altimeter), the Vaporimeter, designed to measure the alcohol content of a liquid by means of the tension of its vapor, and finally a hygrometer according to Daniell, which is able to achieve more quickly than the usual.
Most recently, he was honored in 1873 at the Vienna World Exhibition. There he was recognized for its mercury vacuum pump with glass taps with the Austrian Code of Civil Merit Cross, for Art and Science in gold. These three honors or awards received Geissler during his lifetime. But long after his death in 1879, Geissler was honored. For example, in 1976, a lunar crater on the eastern limb of the Moon front was named after him and also some streets bear his name, including in Rudolstadt, Munich or Berlin.