František Josef Gerstner

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František Josef Gerstner

Born	(1756-02-23)February 23, 1756 Chomutov
Died	July 25, 1832(1832-07-25) (aged 76)

František Josef Gerstner (German: Franz Josef von Gerstner, Czech: František Josef Gerstner; February 23, 1756 – July 25, 1832) was a Bohemian physicist and engineer.

Gerstner was born in Chomutov, where he studied at the Jesuits gymnasium, after which he studied mathematics and astronomy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Prague between 1772 and 1777. In 1781, he started to study medicine in Vienna, but quickly decided to work in the astronomical observatory instead. In 1789, he became professor of mathematics there.

In 1795, Gerstner became a member of the government commission which tried to improve higher technical education in the Austrian empire. Following his suggestion, the old Prague engineering school Česká stavovská inženýrská škola was converted to a polytechnic school in 1803. Gerstner became director of the polytechnic in 1806 and also professor of mechanics and hydraulics. He taught there until 1823, when he was forced to stop due to an illness. The polytechnic still exists today as the Czech Technical University in Prague (ČVUT), and the institute for artificial intelligence and cybernetics research at ČVUT bears the name Gerstner Laboratory.^[1] He died, aged 76, in Mladějov.

Work

From his published works, the most important ones were Theory of waves (1804) and Handbuch der Mechanik (1831; Handbook of mechanics). This last book appeared in three volumes, with 1400 subscribers.

His work focused on applied mechanics, hydrodynamics and river transportation. He helped to build the first iron works and first steam engine in Czech lands. In 1807, he suggested the construction of a horse-drawn railway between České Budějovice and Linz. This railway was later actually built between 1827 and 1829 by his son František Antonín Gerstner (German: Franz Anton (Ritter) von Gerstner, 1796, Prague - 1840, Philadelphia (de)).

References

Příruční slovník naučný 1962 (encyclopedia by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences): volume II, page 25.

External links

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Biography (Czech)

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 35525877 LCCN: n85340048 ISNI: 0000 0001 0964 3430 GND: 129094692 NKC: jk01032417

Persondata
Name	Gerstner, Frantisek Josef
Alternative names
Short description	Czech physicist
Date of birth	February 23, 1756
Place of birth	Chomutov
Date of death	July 25, 1832
Place of death

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