The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Möbius

MÖBIUS. I. August Ferdinand, a German mathematician, born at Schulpforta, near Naumburg, Nov. 17, 1790, died in Leipsic, Sept. 26, 1868. He graduated at the university of Leipsic in 1815, and was a professor there for 50 years. He remodelled the observatory, and in his Der barycentrische Calcul, ein neues Hülfsmittel zur analytischen Behandlung der Geometrie (Leipsic, 1827), established the new principle of the affinities of figures. His Lehrbuch der Statik (2 vols., 1837) gives a comprehensive account of the intimate connection between statics and geometry. His most celebrated astronomical works are Die Elemente der Mechanik des Himmels (1843), and Die Hauptsätze der Astronomie (4th ed., 1860). II. Theodor, a German philologist, son of the preceding, born in Leipsic, June 22, 1821. He graduated at Leipsic in 1852, and in 1859 became professor of Scandinavian languages and literature there. In 1865 he accepted a similar position at Kiel. He has edited many old Norse works. III. Paul Heinrich August, a German author, brother of the preceding, born in Leipsic, May 31, 1825. He studied theology and philosophy, and became a teacher in Leipsic and a preacher at the church of the university. From 1853 to 1865 he was director of an educational institution for booksellers, and subsequently of one of the principal schools in Leipsic. His miscellaneous writings include stories, poetry, and a tragedy, and Katechismus der deutschen Literaturgeschichte (Leipsic, 1857; 4th ed., 1871).