Background
Jakob Amsler-Laffon was born on November 11, 1823, in the Stalden near the village of Schinznach in the district of Brugg, canton Aargau. His father`s name was Jakob Amsler-Amsler (1779–1869) and he was a farmer.
Jakob Amsler-Laffon (11 November 1823 – 3 January 1912) was a mathematician, physicist, engineer and the founder of his own factory.
In 1848 Amsler was awarded his doctorate from the University of Königsberg and he then returned to Switzerland to continue his education.
University of Jena, Jena, Thuringia, Germany
The Amsler planimeter model (nickel silver).
The Amsler planimeter model (brass).
The Amsler planimeter model
Factory in Rheinstrasse (1869).
New factory area in the industrial quarter Ebnat (1911).
In 1848 Amsler was awarded his doctorate from the University of Königsberg and he then returned to Switzerland to continue his education.
University of Jena, Jena, Thuringia, Germany
The Amsler planimeter model (nickel silver).
The Amsler planimeter model (brass).
The Amsler planimeter model
The Amsler planimeter model
Factory in Rheinstrasse (1869).
New factory area in the industrial quarter Ebnat (1911).
Factory in Rheinstrasse (1869).
New factory area in the industrial quarter Ebnat (1911).
Alfred Amsler (1857–1940)
Franz Neumann worked on crystallography and other physical applications of mathematics.
engineer inventor mathematician physicist precision instruments
Jakob Amsler-Laffon was born on November 11, 1823, in the Stalden near the village of Schinznach in the district of Brugg, canton Aargau. His father`s name was Jakob Amsler-Amsler (1779–1869) and he was a farmer.
Amsler was educated at local schools before going on to study theology at the universities of Jena and Königsberg. At Königsberg he came under the influence of Franz Neumann, whose lectures and laboratory sessions he attended for seven semesters. In 1848 Amsler was awarded his doctorate from the University of Königsberg and he then returned to Switzerland to continue his education.
After earning his doctorate in 1848, Amsler spent a year with Plantamour at the Geneva observatory; he went from there to Zurich, where he completed his Habilitation and began his teaching career. For four semesters he lectured on various topics in mathematics and mathematical physics, then in 1851 accepted a post at the Gymnasium in Schaffhausen. From this he hoped to gain some financial independence as well as an opportunity for more research.
Until 1854 Amsler’s interests lay in the area of mathematical physics; he published articles on magnetic distribution, the theory of heat conduction, and the theory of attraction. One result of his work was a generalization of Ivory’s theorem on the attraction of ellipsoids and of Poisson’s extension of that theorem.
In 1854 Amsler turned his attention to precision mathematical instruments, and his research resulted in his major contribution to mathematics: the polar planimeter, a device for measuring areas enclosed by plane curves. Previous such instruments, most notably that of Oppikofer (1827), had been based on the Cartesian coordinate system and had combined bulkiness with high cost. Amsler eliminated these drawbacks by basing his planimeter on a polar coordinate system referred to a null circle as curvilinear axis. The instrument, described in “Ueber das Polarplanimeter” (1856), adapted easily to the determination of static and inertial moments and of the coefficients of Fourier series; it proved especially useful to shipbuilders and railroad engineers.
He died in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on January 3, 1912.
The chief Amsler`s achievement was in the establishment of his own precision tools workshop in 1854. From 1857 on, he devoted full time to the venture. At his death, the shop had produced 50,000 polar planimeters and 700 momentum planimeters. The polar planimeter marked the height of Amsler’s career. His laterresearch, mostly in the area of precision and engineering instruments, produced no comparable achievement, although it did bring Amsler recognition and prizes from world exhibitions at Vienna (1873) and Paris (1881, 1889), as well as a corresponding membership in the Paris Academy (1892). From 1848 until his death, Amsler was an active member of the Naturforsehende Gesellschaft in Zurich.
In 1854 Amsler married Elise Laffion, the daughter of a Schaffhausen druggist who was well known in Swiss scientific circles. Henceforth he used the double form Amsler-Laffon. The change applied to Jakob alone and was not adopted by his children.
Their oldest son Alfred Amsler (1857–1940) was a mathematician and engineer in his own right and succeeded to his father as the owner and director of the factory.
She was a daughter of a Schaffhausen druggist who was well known in Swiss scientific circles.
Franz Neumann worked on crystallography and other physical applications of mathematics. The teacher who changed Amsler's future was Franz Neumann whose lectures and laboratory sessions he attended at the University of Königsberg.
