Joseph von Fraunhofer

Joseph von Fraunhofer (March 6, 1787 РJune 7, 1826) was a German physicist. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1865, 417 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Joseph von Fraunhofer Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1865, 417 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Joseph von Fraunhofer Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ... 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nic̩phore Ni̩pce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A physicist is a scientist trained in physics. ...

When Fraunhofer became an orphan at the age of 11, he started working as an apprentice to a harsh glassmaker named Philipp Anton Weichelsberger. Orphans, by Thomas Kennington An orphan (from the Greek ορφανός) is a person (or animal), who has lost one or both parents, often through death. ...

In 1801 the workshop in which he was working collapsed and he was buried in the rubble. The rescue operation was led by Maximilian IV Joseph, Prince Elector of Bavaria (the future Maximilian I Joseph). The prince entered Fraunhofer's life, providing him with books and forcing his employer to allow the young Fraunhofer time to study. The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... The prince-electors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire — German: Kurfürst (singular) Kurfürsten (plural) — were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Emperors of Germany. ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria. ...

After eight months of study, Fraunhofer went to work at the Optical Institute at Benediktbeuern, a secularised Benedictine monastery devoted to glass-making. There he discovered how to make the world's finest optical glass and invented incredibly precise methods for measuring dispersion. In 1818 he became the director of the Optical Institute. Due to the fine optical instruments he had developed, Bavaria overtook England as the centre of the optics industry. Even the likes of Michael Faraday were unable to produce glass that could rival Fraunhofer's. Benediktbeuern Abbey (Kloster Benediktbeuern) is a monastery of the Salesians, originally a monastery of the Benedictine Order, in Benediktbeuern in Bavaria, near the Kochelsee. ... 1818 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Michael Faraday Michael Faraday, FRS (September 22, 1791 – August 25, 1867) was a British scientist (a physicist and chemist) who contributed significantly to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. ...

In 1814 Fraunhofer was the first to investigate seriously the absorption lines in the solar spectrum that were ultimately explained by Kirchhoff and Bunsen in 1859, who also invented the spectroscope. These lines are still sometimes called Fraunhofer lines in his honour. 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Gustav Kirchhoff Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (March 12, 1824 – October 17, 1887), a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects. ... Bunsen redirects here. ... 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Solar Fraunhofer lines In physics and optics, the Fraunhofer lines are a set of spectral lines named for the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787--1826). ...

He also invented the diffraction grating and in doing so transformed spectroscopy from a qualitative art to a quantitative science by demonstrating how one could measure the wavelength of light accurately. He found out that the spectra of Sirius and other first-magnitude stars differed from each other and from the sun, thus founding stellar spectroscopy. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines (fraunhofer lines) Spectroscopy is the study of spectra, that is, the dependence of physical quantities on frequency. ... Sirius (α CMa / α Canis Majoris / Alpha Canis Majoris) is the brightest star in the nighttime sky, with a visual apparent magnitude of −1. ...

Ultimately, however, his primary passion was still practical optics, once noting that "In all my experiments I could, owing to lack of time, pay attention to only those matter which appeared to have a bearing upon practical optics."

His illustrious career eventually earned him an honorary doctorate from the University of Erlangen in 1822. In 1824, he was awarded the order of merit, became a noble, and made an honorary citizen of Munich. Like many glassmakers of his era who were poisoned by heavy metal vapours, Fraunhofer died young, in 1826 at the age of 39. His most valuable glassmaking recipes are thought to have gone to the grave with him. Erlangen is a German city in Middle Franconia. ... 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Munich and the Bavarian Alps Munich (German: München, (pronounced listen) is the largest city and capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ... The term heavy metal may have various more general or more specific meanings. ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

See also

• Fraunhofer society
• Fraunhofer diffraction
• Fraunhofer line

The Fraunhofer Society (German Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) is a German research organization named after the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer, with 58 institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, which works primarily on basic science). ... Fraunhofer diffraction is diffraction of light through an aperture for small values of the Fresnel number, F<<1. ... Solar Fraunhofer lines In physics and optics, the Fraunhofer lines are a set of spectral lines named for the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787--1826). ...

External links

• Biography of Joseph von Fraunhofer
• Catholic Encyclopedia article on Joseph von Fraunhofer