Peter Carl Ludwig Schwarz

Peter Carl Ludwig Schwarz[1] (Julian, O.S.: 23 May 1822,[1] Danzig-Gdańsk – 17 September 1894; Gregorian, N.S.: 4 June 1822 - 29 September 1894,[2] St. George's?; Buried: Tartu)[1] (referred to mostly as Ludwig Schwarz),[2] was a Baltic German astronomer[3] of Imperial Russia, explorer, and professor[1] of astronomy at the University of Dorpat[4] honored with the Konstantin Medal[note 1] of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.[5] Schwarz also was a recipient of the Demidov Prize[5][note 2] of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg in 1865 for his work in geodesy.[5]

Peter Carl Ludwig Schwarz
Professor Ludwig Schwarz, circa 1890
Born(1822-06-04)4 June 1822
Danzig-Gdańsk
Died29 September 1894(1894-09-29) (aged 72)
St. George's?
AwardsKonstantin Gold Medal
Demidov Prize (1865)
Scientific career
Fieldsastronomy, geodesy
InstitutionsImperial University of Dorpat

Palaeoarctic Siberian Asia Expeditions

Following assignment by Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve as a field expedition astronomer (1849-1853) to study the Amur River,[5][3] astronomer Schwarz led (1854-1862) the East Siberian Expedition of 1855 which extensively explored unknown and unmapped territory in Eastern Siberia, such as the Turan Range.[6][5]

The Siberian expedition went into central Asia, southeastern Asia, and northern China.[5] Some of the routes travelled were as long as 10,000 miles.[5] Utilizing his prior Amur field knowledge of astronomy he would determine geographical positions of certain points (geodesy) for preparation of geographical maps.[5] The information would later be used in planning the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway systems and others in southeast Asia.

The volumes reporting the results of the expedition were published in 1864.[5] The separate tomes concerning the vegetation and wildlife reports were prepared by the expedition's botanist and zoologist Gustav Radde.

Dorpat Observatory

Ludwig Schwarz served as the Director of Dorpat Observatory[2] (now Tartu Observatory) from 1872[7][note 3] to 1891,[2] succeeding Thomas Clausen who held the position from 1866 to 1872.[7] Upon the retirement of Schwarz from the directorship on 1 September 1891 the position became the responsibility of Grigori Levitski who held it until 1908.[8]

During his tenure in later life he conducted studies of one third of the 10,000 celestial stars visible at Tartu.[5]

Legacy

Radde's warbler, a leaf warbler bird that breeds in Siberia and winters in southeast Asia, bears a scientific name (Phylloscopus schwarzi) that commemorates Schwarz.[9] The bird was described in 1863 by naturalist and fellow explorer Gustav Radde who served in the East Siberian Expedition of 1855 led by Schwarz.[9]

Works

His publications include:

German:

  • Schwarz, Ludwig (1889); Eine Studie auf dem Gebiete der Practischen Astronomie; Dorpat.[10]
[English: A Study in the Field of Practical Astronomy].
  • Schwarz, Ludwig (1887-1893); Beobachtungen, angestellt und herausgegeben von Ludwig Schwarz, Band 17-20; Kaiserliche Universitats-Sternwarte, Dorpat (Jurjew)[11][12]
[English: Observations made and published from Ludwig Schwarz, Volumes 17-20; Imperial University Observatory].

See also

Notes
  1. The Konstantin Medal is named after Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia, the first chairman of the Russian Geographical Society.
  2. The Demidov Medal/Demidov Prize was an influencing forerunner to the Nobel Prize.
  3. EMWS issue (1894), p. 317: Scientific News, shows incorrectly 1874.

Citations
  1. Siilivask (1985), p. 119.
  2. Observatory (1894), p. 376.
  3. Amur catalog entry of 2 maps.
  4. Outlook (1894), p.  775.
  5. Tartu Observatory profile re Schwarz, website.
  6. Kropotkin, p. 563.
  7. Mollin (2011), p. 162, Biography 4.8, Thomas Clausen (1801-1885).
  8. Tartu Observatory profiles, website.
  9. Raade (1863), p. 260.
  10. PASP (1891), p.  330
  11. SCTLRAS (1900), p. 44.
  12. MNRAS (1888), Appendix IV, p. 82.

References

Books

English:

  • Great Britain, India Office (1878), A Catalogue of Manuscript and Printed Reports, Field Books, Memoirs, Maps, etc., of the Indian Surveys, Deposited in the Map Room of the India Office. See Amur map catalogue entry appearing in the Asiatic Russia section, p. 511.
  • Mollin, Richard A. (2011), Algebraic Number Theory, Second Edition, CRC Press, ISBN 978-1-4398-4599-8 (ebook).
  • SCTLRAS (1900), Supplementary Catalogue of The Library of the Royal Astronomical Society, June 1884 – 1898, Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, London; Spottiswoode & Co., London (publisher).
  • Siilivask, Karl (1985), History of Tartu University: 1632-1982, Perioodika. This reference uses "(1822-1894)" at p. 119.

German:

2 volumes: I. Die Saugethierfauna , 1862; II. Die Festlands-Ornis , 1864. From volume 2, p. 260, plate 9, figs. 1a, 1b, 1c (1863).
[English: Travel to the South of Eastern Siberia in the Years 1855-59: I. The Wildland Animal Fauna, 1862; II. The Mainland-Birds, 1864].
Collectively referred to as Reisen im Suden Ost-Sibiriens [English: Travel to the South East Siberians].

Journals

English:

Maps

Russian:

  • Amur Region, 1861.
  • Amur Region, 1864.
[English: Amur catalog entry of 2 Russian maps appears in the Great Britain, India Office (1878) book at p. 511 in the section "Asiatic Russia" [noted above] as: "The Amur. KAPTA Map of the Region of the AMUR with the upper parts of the Lena and Yenisei and the Island of Saghalin Constructed from the observation of the Siberian expedition of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society by Ludwig Schwarz astronomer to the expedition St Petersburg 1861 In Russian Scale 1 1,680,000 or about 27 miles to 1 inch on 7 sheets in a cover size of each 25 inches by 31. Another edition dated 1864."]
Academic offices
Preceded by
Thomas Clausen		 Director of Dorpat Observatory
(now Tartu Observatory)
1872–1891		 Succeeded by
Grigori Levitski
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