Friedrich Robert Helmert in memory of his 100th year of death
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Friedrich Robert Helmert in memory of his 100th year of death Bertold Witte1
Received: 22 September 2017 / Accepted: 25 September 2017 / Published online: 25 October 2017 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017
Abstract The presentation starts with the description of Helmert’s course of life and deals in the second and third part with his main research fields, namely adjustment theory and geodesy. It concludes with one actual research activity in Helmert’s formerly Geodetic Institute at Potsdam. Keywords Helmert’s significance for geodesy and mathematics · Adjustment theory · History of the earth’s figure Mathematics Subject Classification 01A70 · 86A30 · 86A32
Introduction The extremely high esteem of Friedrich Robert Helmert’s scientific work is the reason to honour this great geodesist in his 100th year of death (Fig. 1). The importance of this scientist for today’s geodesy can be indicated by a quotation of Helmut Wolf, who wrote in 1993 that Helmert’s lifework was the foundation to erect the building of modern geodesy (Wolf 1993). This academic teacher, after Gauss one of the most distinguished German geodesists, influenced enormously with his theoretical und practical achievements at the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century the development of geodesy, in particular mathematical and physical geodesy. Already at this place it will be emphasized that the classical definition of geodesy “as the science of the measurement and mapping of the earth’s surface” was given by
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Bertold Witte [email protected] Institut für Geodäsie und Geoinformation, Universität Bonn, Nussallee 17, 53115 Bonn, Germany
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Int J Geomath (2017) 8:153–168
Fig. 1 Friedrich Robert Helmert at the age of 70
Helmert (1880). This classical definition is fundamental to geodesy even today and provides the canonical understanding of geodesy within the geosciences.
1 Friedrich Robert Helmert 1843–1917-sections of his course of life and his international field of activities1 1.1 Helmert’s education and his years as academic teacher and as a researcher in Aachen The talent of Friedrich Robert Helmert, born on July 31st 1843 as youngest son of the cashier Johann Friedrich Helmert and his wife Christiane Friederike in Freiberg in the former Kingdom of Saxony, were early perceived by his father. He enabled his son to attend the elementary school of his home town and later the “Annen”-school in Dresden. After his graduation at the age of sixteen he continued his education at the Royal Saxon Polytechnic University at Dresden. His later course of life was here strongly influenced by the professor of geodesy Christian August Nagel (1821–1903). In July 1863 he graduated there with great success and was honoured with a silver medal. Subsequently he worked as an assistant for Prof. Nagel, who entrusted him with part of the triangulation of Saxony. In October 1866 Helmert enrolled at the University at Leipzig, where he could complete his knowledge in mathematics, astronomy and physics. Already in May 1868 he was able to defend his
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