Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen

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Baron Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen (December 17, 1809–March 16, 1876), German geologist, was born at Göttingen and educated at the university in that city. There he devoted his attention to physical and natural science, and in particular to mineralogy. Wolfgang was named after Johann Wolfgang Goethe who was close friends with his parents. (See link to see title page of book of their correspondence.) Wolfgang’s father, Georg, was a writer, lecturer and professor of economics and history at Göttingen. George Sartorius (later Sartorius von Waltershausen) is best known in his role of translator and popularizer of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Wolfgang's son, August, was a well known economist whose book has been translated into English and republished.

During a tour in 1834-1835 he carried out a series of magnetic observations in various parts of Europe. He then gave his attention to an exhaustive investigation of the volcano of Mount Etna, in Sicily, and carried on the work with some interruptions until 1843. The chief result of this undertaking was his great Atlas des Ätna (1858–1861), in which he distinguished the lava streams formed during the later centuries.

After his return from Mount Etna he visited Iceland, and subsequently published Physisch-geographische Skizze von Island (1847), Über die vulkanischen Gesteine in Sizilien und Island (1853), and Geologischer Atlas von Island (1853). Meanwhile he was appointed professor of mineralogy and geology at Göttingen, and held this post for about thirty years, until his death.

In 1866 he published an important essay entitled Recherches sur les climats de l'époque actuelle et des époques anciennes; in this he expressed his belief that the Ice age was due to changes in the configuration of the earth's surface. He died at Göttingen.

Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen

Wolfgang was also the author of Gauss zum Gedächtnis, in 1862. This biography, published at Gauss' death, is viewed as Gauss' biography as Gauss wished it to be told. It is also the source of one of the most famous mathematical quotes: Mathematics is the queen of the sciences. Variants include: "Mathematics is the queen of sciences and arithmetic the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations she is entitled to the first rank" and "Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics (Die Mathematik ist die Königin der Wissenschaften und die Zahlentheorie ist die Königin der Mathematik.) .

Gauss zum Gedächtnis is also the original source for the very famous story of Gauss quickly adding up a long string of consecutive numbers (For more information, see [1] for discussion of original sourcing by Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen.)

When Carl Friedrich Gauss died in Göttingen, two individuals gave eulogies at his funeral: Gauss's son-in-law Heinrich Ewald, and Waltershausen (representing the Göttingen faculty), who was Gauss's close friend and biographer.

[edit] External links

[2] - Satorite Mineral Page
[3] - 2nd Satorite Mineral Page
[4] - Discussion of Waltershausen as source on Gauss numbers story including partial translation of Waltershausen book on Gauss [American Scientist online Volume 94 Number: 3 Page 200 Gauss's Day of Reckoning: A famous story about the boy wonder of mathematics has taken on a life of its own, Brian Hayes]
[5] - Wolfgang’s parents’ page and information on Waltershausen family website
[6] - Wolfgang’s son's page and information on Waltershausen family website