September. 1910. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



375 



received his early education at the village school, 

 but he was also taught, w ith the son of the pastor 

 of that place, the older languages ; later on he 

 entered the gymnasium in Wittenberg, where we 

 learn that its director knew, with joyous pride, that 

 from 1825-1830 Galle was considered to be. and 

 pro\'ed himself to be, its most eminent and 

 distinguished scholar, particularly in Latin — in 

 which language he wrote his dissertation in 1845. 

 From the age of eighteen to twent\--one (1830-1833) 

 he assiduously studied mathematics and astronomy 

 in Berlin, recei\ing instruction from Prof. J. F. 

 Encke ; in 1833 he assisted as examining head- 

 master, and directly after he held a position for half 

 a \-ear in Guben, and then in the Friedrich-^^"erder- 

 schen Gymnasium, in Berlin. 



In 1835 he gave up these teaching positions and 

 was appointed the Observer, under Encke, at the 

 new Berlin Observatory, and continued his work 

 and investigations there until 1851 in a most 

 careful, assiduous, and conscientious manner. 



In 1851 he went to Breslau University and 

 Observatory, where his work for forty-five-and-a-half 

 years was both as a teacher and investigator. Soon 

 after his arrival there he was con\-inced of the great 

 necessity for the formation of a purely mathematical 

 and astronomical curriculum, hitherto deficient. 



His lectures were made to embrace many branches 

 of astronom\- ; and bv his gifted, luminous, and 

 e.xtremely clear manner of explaining difficult ques- 

 tions, he attracted students, claimed their attention 

 at his lectures, and thereby introduced many 

 students to astronom\'. The number of his audience 

 increased and attained, about 1890, then for astron- 

 omy only, to the unusual height of over eighty. His 

 scientific work kept him occupied and interested in 

 all current questions. The climatological tables 

 prepared by him from forty years" observations at 

 Breslau are still in use. Some of his non-astronom- 

 ical researches have appeared in the proceedings of 

 the ScIilesiscJien Gesellschaft fiir vaferlancfische 

 Kultiir. He founded and carried on the geograph- 

 ical section of this society, and, for his esteemed 

 work, was made an honorary member. 



In the publication of the Breslau Observatory, in 

 1879, he gave a faithful historical account of the 

 origin of the astronomical lectures, and of the 

 observatory in Breslau, so far as concerned building 

 changes, and finally prepared a catalogue of all 

 existing instruments and their origin, the geograph- 

 ical, meteorological, and magnetical constants for 

 Breslau. And in 1897, when his lectures and 

 connection with Breslau came to an end, he had 

 formed an inventory of the Observatory and contents 

 of the library, and surrendered this with his 

 resignation of office : these testif\" to his methodical 

 way of doing things thoroughly and leaving no work 

 undone or in disorder for others. 



Galle married the sister of Herz, Professor of 

 Classical Philolog^• at Breslau, and of this marriage 

 two sons were born. The elder, Andreas, became, 

 to Galle's delight, like him, an astronomer, at first at 



the Breslau Obser\'atory and later at the Ro\al 

 Geodetic Institute at Potsdam, where he still holds 

 a respected and influential position as Observer, as 

 well as Professor of Geodesy to the Technical High 

 School in Charlottenburg (Berlin) ; the younger son, 

 George, became a physician in considerable request 

 in Erdmannsdorf, and later, in Hirschberg. 



After the death of his wife Galle"s niece. Miss 

 Marie Lindemann, undertook the management of his 

 household arrangements, and devotedly attended to 

 him until his death. When Galle resigned his 

 positions at Breslau he changed his residence and, 

 at the request of his son. Dr. Andreas Galle, went to 

 live near him at Potsdam for the last thirteen years 

 of his life. 



On the occasion of his ninetieth birthday on 

 June 9th, 1902, a deputation of the International 

 Astronomical Society, of the Astrophysical Institute 

 at Potsdam, of the Berlin and Breslau Observatories, 

 and of other scientific bodies, came to congratulate 

 him upon the rare celebration. This old man, in 

 vigorous health, stood to listen to all the addresses, 

 and continued standing while repl\ing to each one 

 singly. 



All letters which he received upon his ninetieth 

 birthday, on later birthdays, and at the New Years, 

 he himself answered in detail : in his own particu- 

 larly firm, clear, and beautiful handwriting, little 

 changed from that of his early manhood. Not until 

 his last, the ninety-eighth, birthday on June 9th, did 

 he allow a son to undertake the replies. He enjoyed 

 tolerably good health on June 9th, and was only ill 

 for about ten davs before his death on Sunday night, 

 July 10th. Galle, besides being a Professor and having 

 a Doctor's degree, was a Privy Councillor, Emeritus 

 Director of the Breslau Observatory, a Foreign 

 Member, or Associate, of The Royal Astronomical 

 Societ\- (London) for the long period of 62 years 

 (since 1848), being the " father "' of that Societ\% and 

 a Corresponding Member of the Royal Bavarian 

 Academy of Sciences. 



At first, when Neptune was discovered, it was 

 generally considered that the discoverers were Le 

 \'errier and Galle. But Galle himself, in his retiring 

 and most modest manner, always stedfastly declined 

 to be honoured as the discoverer, and designated Le 

 \'errier as the sole discoverer of Neptune. Notwith- 

 standing his views upon the matter, the Cross of the 

 Legion of Honour was sent to him from Paris. 



Let us conclude this account with the words of 

 Dr. Franz. Fidelity and carefulness, combined 

 with his geniality, are the attributes which distin- 

 guished Galle ; and if Germany has become in the 

 last fifty j-ears so conspicuous!}- prominent among 

 European nations, we are indebted to its union b}- 

 Bismarck and to such men as Galle, who in quiet 

 work and German thoroughness have elevated and 

 stamped truth on its shield. 



The writer is greatlj' indebted to Galle's son. Dr. 

 Andreas Galle, for much personal information and 

 for the portrait from which the frontispiece to the 

 jiresent number of " Knowledge "" has been taken. 



