Articles | Volume 1, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-1-77-2010
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-1-77-2010
22 Dec 2010
 | 22 Dec 2010

Georg von Neumayer and geomagnetic research

W. Schröder, K.-H. Wiederkehr, and K. Schlegel

Abstract. Neumayer was a prominent figure in the development of geophysics in the 19th century from a scientific as well as from an organisational point of view. In this paper we review and highlight his activities and efforts in geomagnetic research within five different aspects of geomagnetism: regional geomagnetic surveys, geomagnetic work in German naval observatories, geomagnetic investigations during the First Polar Year 1882/83, modifications of the Gaussian theory, and geomagnetic charts. In each field Neumayer was a researcher, a thinker, and a stimulating coordinator.