by Bugge, 1779. Bugge had at the same time under Christen Hees' (1712–1782) instruction studied mathematics, a subject he had shown a remarkable talent for. He worked as an assistant to Peder Kofoed (1728–1760) in connection with Kofoed's survey of
Roskilde County under the auspices of the Royal Danish Academy of Science. He continued his studies of mathematics and physics and began working as an assistant for
Christian Horrebow (1718–1776) at the
Rundetårn Observatory. In 1761, he was sent to
Trondheim to observe the
Transit of Venus. The results were published in the French scientific journal
Mémoires (1871). Following Kofoed's death, Bugge was hired as geographical surveyor by the Royal Danish Academy of Science. He surveyed approximately of
Zealand annually and taught surveying at the same time. In 1765, he was appointed as trigonometrical observer and head of the Office of Surveying, where in that capacity, he carried out a
triangulation of most of Zealand and
Øresund and determined the polar height of a number of
trig points. As a practicing surveyor, he was responsible for the surveying of a number of estates and villages on Zealand. In 1768, Bugge was appointed Chief Surveyor. He was himself responsible for the education of surveyors and created guidelines for their work. Bugge became a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Science in 1775, further increasing his influence on its work with surveying of the country, and from 1780 until his death headed it alone. Bugge's work marked a breakthrough for the economic and geographic surveying of Denmark. Bugge was also charged with a wide range of other assignments. In 1774, he and professor created tables for the General Widows' Pension Fund () based on
Leonhard Euler's formulas. In 1765–1772, he served as Prince
Frederick's tutor in mathematics. In 1777, he succeeded Christian Horrebow as professor of astronomy. He soon thereafter went on a study trip to Germany, the Netherlands, France and England. An extract of his travelogue was published in a university programme from 1779. On his return to Denmark, the Rundetårn Observatory was refurbished and equipped with new and improved instruments. The King contributed to the project with 7,000
rigsdaler. A description of the observatory and observations from the three first years can be found in Bugge's privately published
Observationes astron. annis 1781–83 (1784). On Bugge's initiative, a series of small observatories were also established in Norway, Iceland, Greenland and
Tranquebar with
Abraham Pihl, Erasmus Lievog, Andreas Ginge and Engelhart as the first observers. Bugge's scientific results were to a significant extent diminished by the many other tasks he was given. In 1782 he was appointed as director of the General Widows' Pension Fund. He was also used as a teacher of mathematics at the Naval Cadet Academy and lectured both on mathematics and water infrastructure. In 1798, he was sent by the government to Paris to represent Denmark at the
congress on the metric system. The negotiations lasted so long that he had to return to Denmark before they were concluded. From 1801 until his death, he also served as secretary of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences. He was a member of number of commissions, including those related to the cobbling of streets in Copenhagen and a regulation of
Copenhagen Fire Brigade and the Copenhagen Port Authority. From 1773 to 1783, he was president of the
Royal Danish Agricultural Society (). Bugge's personal library contained 15,000 volumes. Most of them and many of his instruments were lost during the
bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. He managed to save the original drawings and copper plates as well as the associated journals and calculations for the special maps of Denmark. He published a number of textbooks on mathematics and astronomy as well as numerous articles in the journals of the Danish and Swedish scientific academies and
Philosophical Transactions as well as a number of observations in
Astron. Jahrbuch (Bode) and
Monatl. Correspondenz (v. Zach). He was three times elected as rector of the University of Copenhagen (1789–1790, 1801–1802, 1810–1811). He was a foreign member of the scientific academies in Petersborg, Pisa, London, Stockholm, Mannheim, Haarlem and Trondheim. He was also a member of the Scandinavian Literary Society in Copenhagen. == Personal life ==