, 1904 reconstruction The
global spread of the printing press with movable types and an oil-based ink was a process that began around 1440 with the invention of the
printing press by
Johannes Gutenberg () in the
Free City of Mainz and continued until the introduction of printing based on this procedure in all parts of the world in the 19th century, thus creating the conditions for the dissemination of generally accessible scientific publications emerging to the revolution of science. painted around 1612. Kepler was one of the founders and fathers of modern
astronomy, the
scientific method,
natural and
modern science.
Scientific Revolution Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) was one of the originators of the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries as an astronomer, physicist, mathematician and natural philosopher. He advocated the idea of a
heliocentric model of the
Solar System, which can be traced back to the theories of the
ancient Greek astronomers
Aristarchus of Samos and
Seleucus of Seleucia, as well as to the 16th-century astronomer
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), whose main work about the heliocentric model was first published by
Johannes Petreius (–1550) and likely the
polymath Johannes Schöner (1477–1547) in the
Free Imperial City of Nuremberg in 1543. In March 1600, Kepler became assistant to the astronomer
Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) at the court of
Emperor Rudolf II in
Prague,
Kingdom of Bohemia. After Brahe's death in October of the next year, Kepler succeeded him as imperial mathematician and court astronomer (until 1627). , often named the originator of the
Scientific Revolution Johannes Kepler discovered the laws according to which planets are moving around the Sun, who were called
Kepler's laws after him. With his introduction to calculating with
logarithms, Kepler contributed to the spread of this type of calculation. In mathematics, a numerical method for calculating the volume of wine barrels with
integrals was named former
Kepler's barrel rule. He made optics to a subject of scientific investigation and confirmed the discoveries made with the telescope by his Italian contemporary
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642). which involved a considerable improvement over the
Galilean telescope. Kepler also made the invention of the valveless
gear pump, because a mine owner needed a device to pump water out of his mine.
Physics (left) and
Robert Bunsen (right), photograph was a German-born
theoretical physicist.
Otto von Guericke (1602–1686) was a scientist, inventor, mathematician and physicist from
Magdeburg. He is best known for his experiments on
air pressure using the
Magdeburg hemispheres. With the invention of the
vacuum pump he laid the foundation of
vacuum technology.
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736) was a physicist and inventor of
measuring instruments from
Danzig. The temperature unit degrees
Fahrenheit (°F) was named after him.
Gustav Kirchhoff (1824–1887) was a physicist from
Königsberg who made a particular contribution to the study of
electricity. Today, Kirchhoff is best known for
Kirchhoff's circuit laws, and for introducing the concept of a
black body, which contributed to the emergence of
quantum mechanics. However, Kirchhoff's circuit laws were discovered as early as 1833 by
Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) during his experiments on electricity. With
Robert Bunsen (1811–1899) he developed
flame spectroscopy in 1859, which can be used to detect
chemical elements with high specificity. Bunsen was a chemist from
Göttingen, and together with Kirchhoff discovered the elements
caesium and
rubidium in 1861. He perfected the
Bunsen burner, which is named after him, and invented the
Bunsen cell and a grease-spot
photometer. The work of
Albert Einstein (1879–1955), best known for developing the
theory of relativity, and
Max Planck (1858–1947), he is known for the
Planck constant, was crucial to the foundation of
modern physics, which
Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) and
Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) developed further. They were preceded by such key physicists as
Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787–1826), who discovered the
Fraunhofer lines in spectroscopy, and
Hermann von Helmholtz (1857–1894), among others.
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845–1923) discovered
X-rays in 1895, an accomplishment that made him the first winner of the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 and eventually earned him an element name,
roentgenium.
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's (1857–1894) work in the domain of
electromagnetic radiation were pivotal to the development of modern
telecommunication; the unit of
frequency was named in his honor "
Hertz". Mathematical
aerodynamics was developed in Germany, especially by
Ludwig Prandtl.
Karl Schwarzschild (1873–1916) was an
astrophysicist from
Frankfurt am Main. He was professor and director of the
Göttingen Observatory from 1901 to 1909. There he was able to work together with scientists like
David Hilbert (1862–1943) and
Hermann Minkowski (1864–1909). Schwarzschild works on relativity provided the first
exact solutions to the field equations of Albert Einstein's
general relativity – one for an
uncharged, non-rotating spherically symmetric body and one for a static
isotropic void around a solid body. Schwarzschild did some fundamental works on classical
black holes. This is why some properties of black holes got their name, namely the
Schwarzschild metric and the
Schwarzschild radius. The center of a non-rotating, uncharged black hole is called the
Schwarzschild singularity.
Paul Forman in 1971 argued the remarkable scientific achievements in quantum physics were the cross-product of the hostile intellectual atmosphere whereby many scientists rejected
Weimar Germany and Jewish scientists, revolts against
causality,
determinism and
materialism, and the creation of the revolutionary new theory of quantum mechanics. The scientists adjusted to the intellectual environment by dropping Newtonian causality from quantum mechanics, thereby opening up an entirely new and highly successful approach to physics. The "Forman Thesis" has generated an intense debate among historians of science.
Deutsche Physik , Deutsche Physik, 1936–1937 The so-called was a movement that some German physicists hold during the
Nazi period, which mixed physics with
racist views. They rejected new discoveries in physics as being too theoretical and advocated a stronger emphasis on
empirical evidence. This physics was influenced by
anti-Semitic ideas that were widespread in the
polarized political climate of the Weimar Republic. In addition, some leading theoretical physicists at that time were of Jewish descent. Leading representatives of this ideology were the Bavarian physicist
Johannes Stark (1874–1957,
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1919) and the German-Hungarian physicist
Philipp Lenard (1862–1947, Nobel Prize winner of 1905). Notably, the latter labeled Albert Einstein's contributions to science as
Jewish physics.
Chemistry and
Lise Meitner at their laboratory in
Berlin from the
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft in 1912
Georgius Agricola gave
chemistry its modern name. He is generally referred to as the father of
mineralogy and as the founder of
geology as a scientific discipline.
Justus von Liebig (1803–1873) made major contributions to agricultural and
biological chemistry, and is one of the principal founders of
organic chemistry. At the start of the 20th century, Germany garnered fourteen of the first thirty-one
Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, starting with
Hermann Emil Fischer (1852–1919) in 1902 and until
Carl Bosch (1874–1940) and
Friedrich Bergius (1884–1949) in 1931. German inventors, engineers and industrialists such as
Zeppelin,
Siemens,
Daimler,
Otto,
Wankel,
Von Braun and
Benz helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology including the beginnings of space travel. The engineer
Otto Lilienthal laid some of the fundamentals for the science of
aviation. 1897 The physicist and optician
Ernst Abbe (1840–1905) founded in the 19th century together with the entrepreneurs
Carl Zeiss (1840–1905) and
Otto Schott (1851–1935) the basics of modern
Optical engineering and developed many
optical instruments like
microscopes and
telescopes. Since 1899 he was the sole owner of the
Carl Zeiss AG and played a decisive role of setting up the enterprise
Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen (today
Schott AG). These enterprises are very successful worldwide up to present time (21st century). The engineer
Rudolf Diesel (1858–1913) was the inventor of an
internal combustion engine, the
Diesel engine. He first published his idea of an engine with a particularly high level of
efficiency in 1893 in his work . After 1893, he succeeded in building such an engine in a laboratory at the
Augsburg Machine Factory (now
MAN). Through his patents registered in many countries and his public relations work, he gave his name to the engine and the associated
Diesel fuel. In the 1930s the
electrical engineers
Ernst Ruska (1906–1988) and
Max Knoll (1897–1969) developed at the
"Technische Hochschule zu Berlin" the first
electron microscope.
Manfred von Ardenne (1907–1997) was a scientist, engineer and active as a researcher primarily in
applied physics and is the originator of around 600 inventions and patents in radio and television technology, electron microscopy, nuclear, plasma and medical technology.
Biological and earth sciences : Picture plate Nr. 71 from
Kunstformen der Natur (
"Art Forms of Nature"), 1899 by
Ernst Haeckel in front of the
Chimborazo, oil on canvas by
Julius Schrader 1859,
Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
Martin Waldseemüller (–1520) and
Matthias Ringmann (1482–1511) were cartographers of the
Renaissance. In 1507 they created the first world map on which the land masses in the west of the
Atlantic Ocean were named "
America" after
Amerigo Vespucci. The
Waldseemüller map of 1507 has been part of the UNESCO World
Documentary Heritage since 2005.
Emil Behring,
Ferdinand Cohn,
Paul Ehrlich,
Robert Koch,
Friedrich Loeffler and
Rudolph Virchow, six key figures in microbiology, were from Germany.
Alexander von Humboldt's (1769–1859) work as a natural scientist and explorer was foundational to
biogeography, he was one of the outstanding scientists of his time and a shining example for
Charles Darwin.
Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) was an eclectic Russian-born
botanist and
climatologist who synthesized global relationships between
climate,
vegetation and
soil types into a classification system that is used, with some modifications, to this day. The Frankfurt
surgeon,
botanist,
microbiologist, and
mycologist Anton de Bary (1831–1888) laid one of the fundamentals of the
plant pathology and was one of the discoverer of the
symbiosis of organisms.
Ernst Haeckel (1834 – 1919) discovered, described and named thousands of new
species, mapped a
tree of life relating all life forms and coined many terms in
biology, for example
ecology and
phylum. His published artwork of different lifeforms includes over 100 detailed, multi-colour
illustrations of animals and sea creatures, collected in his , an international bestseller and a book that would go on to influence the
Art Nouveau (). But Haeckel was also a promoter of
scientific racism and embraced the idea of
Social Darwinism.
Alfred Wegener (1880–1930), a similarly interdisciplinary scientist, was one of the first people to hypothesize the theory of
continental drift that was later developed into the overarching geological theory of
plate tectonics.
Psychology Wilhelm Wundt is credited with the establishment of
psychology as an independent empirical science through his construction of the first laboratory at the
University of Leipzig in 1879. In the beginning of the 20th century, the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute founded by
Oskar and
Cécile Vogt was among the world's leading institutions in the field of brain research.
Humanities of 1902
Theodor Mommsen by
Adolf Brütt (1909), in the yard of the
Humboldt University of Berlin engraving Besides natural sciences, German researchers have added much to the development of humanities.
Albertus Magnus (–1280) was a polymath, philosopher, lawyer, natural scientist, theologian,
Dominican and
Bishop of Regensburg. His great, diverse knowledge earned him the name Magnus ("the Great"), the title of
Doctor of the Church and the honorary title of doctor universalis.
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768) was a German
art historian and
archaeologist, "the prophet and founding hero of
modern archaeology".
Heinrich Schliemann (1822–1890) was a wealthy businessman and a devotee of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of
Homer and an archaeological excavator of
Hisarlik (since 1871), now presumed to be the site of
Troy, along with the
Mycenaean sites
Mycenae and
Tiryns.
Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) is widely counted as one of the greatest
classicists of the 19th century; his work regarding
Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research.
Max Weber (1864–1920) was together with
Karl Marx (1818–1883) among the most important theorists of the development of modern
Western society and is regarded as one of the founder of the
Sociology.
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was a philosopher of the
Enlightenment and professor of
logic and
metaphysics in
Königsberg. Kant is one of the most important representatives of
Western philosophy. His work
Critique of Pure Reason marks a turning point in the
history of philosophy and the beginning of
modern philosophy. Kant is best known for the
categorical imperative, the fundamental principle of moral action from his
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." While Kant was one of the first philosopher of
German idealism,
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) is one of the most influential and last representative of it. His philosophy seeks to interprete the whole of reality in its variety of manifestations, including historical development, in a coherent, systematic and definitive manner. It is divided into "logic", "
natural philosophy" and "
Phenomenology of Geist", which also includes a
philosophy of history. His thinking also became the starting point for numerous other movements in the
theory of science, sociology, history, theology, politics, jurisprudence and
art theory, and it also influenced other areas of culture and intellectual life. Contemporary examples are the philosopher
Jürgen Habermas, the Egyptologist
Jan Assmann, the sociologist
Niklas Luhmann, the historian
Reinhart Koselleck and the legal historian
Michael Stolleis. In order to promote the international visibility of research in these fields a new prize, , was established in 2008; it serves the translation of studies of humanities into English.
Warfare Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831) was a
Prussian , army reformer, military scientist and
ethicist. Clausewitz became known through his unfinished major work , which deals with the problem of the
theory of war. His theories on
strategy,
tactics and philosophy had a major influence on the
military theory in all Western countries and are still taught at military academies until today. They are also used in business management and marketing. The most used quotation is the statement from his masterpiece: "War is the continuation of policy with other means."
Oswald Boelcke was the progenitor of air-to-air combat tactics, fighter squadron organization, early-warning systems, and the German air force; he has been dubbed "the father of air combat". From his first victories, the news of his success instructed and motivated both his fellow fliers and the German public. It was at his instigation that the Imperial German Air Service founded its (Fighter School) to teach his aerial tactics. The promulgation of his
Dicta Boelcke set tactics for the German fighter force. The concentration of fighter airplanes into squadrons gained Germany air supremacy on the Western Front, and was the basis for their wartime successes. == Personalities ==