He was the son of a
locksmith, and in 1851 went as locksmith and mechanic, first to
Borsig, and then to
Berlin with the firm of Siemens and Halske. In Berlin, he attracted the attention of
Johann Encke, then director of the
Berlin Observatory, by his remarkable powers as a
computer. In 1852 Bruhns was appointed as assistant, and in 1854 as observer, in the Observatory, and in 1859 as instructor in the
university. In 1860 he was called to the
University of Leipzig as professor of astronomy and director of the new observatory to be constructed there, which, under his skilful direction, grew into one of the finest structures of its kind in
Europe. He is known as the discoverer of five
comets, an able computer of cometary and
planetary orbits, and for his important work in
geodesy in connection with the European triangulation. ==References==