WILHELM EDUARD WEBER. 449 



WILHELM EDUARD WEBER. 



Wilhelm Eduard Weber was born in Wittenberg, October 24, 

 1804. He was the second of three sons, all of whom became eminent. 

 He was early interested in scientific pursuits, and while yet a student 

 he investigated the phenomena of waves, and with his brother Ernst 

 published a treatise on the subject which has ever since been consid- 

 ered a classic on wave motions. One of the discoveries first made 

 known here was that the particles on the surface of a liquid when 

 there is an advancing wave, all revolve in vertical circles in the plane 

 of the direction of propagation of the wave, while the particles lower 

 down move in ellipses whose vertical axis becomes smaller and smaller 

 as the particles are deeper. This work was issued in 1825, when 

 Weber was but twenty-one years of age. In 1826 he took his doc- 

 tor's degree at the University of Halle, and was then appointed Privat- 

 doceut. and Professor Extraordinary of Physics in 1828. 



In 1831 he was called to Gottingen to succeed J. T. Mayer in 

 the Chair of Physics. Here, he with his brother Eduard investi- 

 gated the mechanism of walking, and this resulted in a treatise on 

 the subject in 1833. This too was a work of high rank. He also 

 published several important papers on acoustics. It will be remem- 

 bered that it was in these years that Faraday had entered upon his 

 work as a discoverer in electricity and magnetism, and during which 

 he had made known the mechanical relations between magnetism and 

 electricity, and led the way to many devices for utilizing magneto- 

 electric currents. Weber and Gauss were among the first to apply 

 the newly discovered properties to the purposes of telegraphy, and in 

 1833 they constructed a telegraph connecting the Physical Laboratory 

 of the University with its Observatory, a distance of about three- 

 quarters of a mile. The first use of their devices was to compare the 

 clocks at the two stations, but the line was also used for telegraphic 

 purposes proper. At first only about two letters per minute could be 

 transmitted ; nevertheless, in Germany these two are still considered 

 to be the inventors of telegraphy. 



■ In 1837 a new King began his reign in Hanover. His notions of 

 his prerogatives were such that he suspended the constitution, and 

 this called forth vigorous protests from several of the professors at 

 the University, Weber among them. To punish them, seven Pro- 

 fessors were dismissed from their chairs, and three were even ban- 

 ished from the country. Weber was thus forced into retirement 

 for some years. In 1843 he was invited to the Chair of Physics 

 vol. xxvii. (s. s. xix.) 29 



