Segner

Johann Andrea von Segner

Born: 9 Oct 1704 in Pressburg, Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia)
Died: 5 Oct 1777 in Halle, Germany

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Segner was the first professor of mathematics at Göttingen taking up the chair in 1735. In 1743 he was put in charge of the construction of the university observatory which was finished in 1751.

While at Göttingen he discovered that every solid body has 3 axes of symmetry. He used Daniel Bernoulli's theoretical work on the 'reaction effect' to produce a horizontal waterwheel using the same principle which drives a modern lawn sprinkler. His work influenced Euler to work on turbines. In 1751 he introduced the concept of the surface tension of liquids and made an unsuccessful attempt to give a mathematical description of capillary action.

He left Göttingen in 1755 and, with Euler's assistance, became professor at Halle. Other work which he undertook included the theory of spinning tops. His publications include Elements of Arithmetic and Geometry and Nature of Liquid Surfaces .

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. M Cantor, Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik III, IV (Leipzig, 1908).
  4. W Kaiser, Johann Andreas Segner : der 'Vater der Turbine' (Leipzig, 1977). 
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JOC/EFR February 1996