Franz Neumann

Franz Ernst Neumann

Born: 11 Sept 1798 in Joachimsthal, Germany (now Jachymov, Czech Republic)
Died: 23 May 1895 in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia)

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Franz Neumann was the father of Carl Neumann. He studied in Berlin obtaining his doctorate in 1825. He worked at Königsberg where he was influenced by Euler. His early work was in crystallography. He used least squares methods of error analysis of instruments giving new precision to measurements.

In 1831 he formulated a law on molecular heat and he published his theory of electrical induction in two papers published in 1845 and 1847. Kirchhoff was one of his students. He also contributed to optics and mineralogy.

He discovered the Neumann lines, now named after him, thin straight scratches that appear when some iron meteorites are cut open and the exposed surface polished.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. L Neumann, Franz Neumann : Erinnerungsblätter (Tübingen-Leipzig, 1904).
  3. P Volkmann, Franz Neumann, 11 September 1798, 23 Mai 1895 : ein Beitrag zur Geschichte deutscher Wissenschaft .
  4. C Jungnickel and R McCormmach, Intellectual Mastery of Nature, 2 Volumes (Chicago, 1986). 
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JOC/EFR February 1996