

f 



f 







B ih liograp hy. 149 



entitled, '^Ht^uisiliones Analytlcoe de Fractionibus Simpllcibus," and is 

 a treatise of great analytic value. Among the theses which he defended 

 at this lime, was the truth of the couplet of Novalis, 



" Dor Begrlff tier Mathematik ist der EegrifF der Wisseiischaft iiberlunipt, 

 Alle Wisrienschaften ma=!sen daher streben Mathematik zii werden." 



The idea of Mathematics is the idea of Science in general; 

 Ail sciences must therefore strive to become Mathematics. 



The wide scope of Jacobi's studies and the many-sidedness of his cul- 

 ture, give to his strong opinion a peculiar weight;--' 



He went to Konigsberg in 1825, and was appointed Professor In that 

 University in 1827, a post which he retained until his dealh, — though 



on account of the severe climate of Konigsberg he has resided in Ber- 

 lin for several years, and lectured in that University in his character of 

 academician. His chief investigations have been connected with the 

 theory of elliptic functions, and are published in the Memoirs of the 

 Berlin Academy and in Crelle's Journal. The first volume of a con- 

 templated collection of his complete works appeared in 1846. 



Prof. M. H. Jacobi, the electrician, the discoverer of the galvano-plas- 

 tic art, now a resident of Si. Petersburg, is a brother of the deceased. 



An apt illustration of the high repute of Jacobi is furnished by an 



mcident which occurred about a twelvemonth before his death. In 



consequence of the extreme liberality of the opinions which he enter- 



tained at the time, his salary was reduced by the Prussian government. 



^ But no sooner had this been done, than the Austrian government invi- 



* ted him to the University of Vienna, at a salary equal to the former 



one, and the Prussians 'were thus unwillingly compelled not only to 

 restore all arrearages, but also to establish his salary at a higher rate 

 than before. 



^ His personal character was very peculiar. His enthusiasm was great, 

 his prejudices strong, his sarcastic powers hardly exceeded by those of 

 Lichtenberg himseff. He took a warm interest in the recent political 

 disturbances of Prussia, although his position was extremely undefined ; 

 being characterized at one time by the strongest loyally, at another by 

 the most fervent republicanism. In Jacobi, science has not only lost 

 one of her brightest ornaments, but a powerful defender of her interests, 



a champion who knew not how to yield. In the words of a colleague 



J^n a recent letter to ihe writer, '^The loss is not only for science, but 



/ for all who honor her, for she has lost a defender, able and earnest, 



when her welfare was concerned, to set in motion all the powers above 

 and beneath, to break and hew open a path for her." b. a. g. 



VI. Bibliography. 



1- Astronomical Ohservat 



ions 



if 



Maury, Lieut. U. S. Navy, during the year 1S46, at the National Ob- 

 servatory, Washington. Vol. II, published by authority of the Secre- 

 tary of the Navy. pp. Ixvi, 442, with an appendix of 167 pp.,4to. 

 ^Vashinglon, 1851. — This volume commences with an account of sev- 

 eral of the prominent instruments of the Observatory, the modes of 

 reducing the observations, and other particulars, which make up the 

 introduction. The results of the observations occupy the next 427 

 pages. The appendix contains, 1st, a chapter on Neptune; 2, on the 

 tilectro-chronographs ; and 3, on Wind and Current Charts. On the 



A'- 



