University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
In 1759 Beckmann entered the University of Göttingen, where he studied theology. He soon turned, however, to mathematics, the natural sciences, public finance and administration, and philology.
Career
Gallery of Johann Beckman
Johann Beckmann, German scientific author and coiner of the word technology.
Gallery of Johann Beckman
Johann Beckmann. Stipple engraving by J. J. Hinchliff after L. Schmidt.
Achievements
Membership
Royal Society of Göttingen
1772 - 1811
Royal Society of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany
In 1772 Beckmann was elected a member of the Royal Society of Gottingen.
University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
In 1759 Beckmann entered the University of Göttingen, where he studied theology. He soon turned, however, to mathematics, the natural sciences, public finance and administration, and philology.
Johann Beckmann was a German scientific scholar, economist, promoter of technology, and author. He is noted as the first man to teach technology and write about it as an academic subject. He is considered as the founder of the independent science of agriculture with his textbook Grundsätze der teutschen Landwirt hschaft (1769).
Background
Johann Beckmann was born on June 4, 1739, at Hoya in Hanover, Germany. Beckmann was the oldest son of the director of taxation and custodian of postal services, Nicolaus Beckmann, who died in 1745. His mother, the daughter of a Protestant parson, devoted herself to the education of the children.
Education
In 1754, at the age of fifteen, Beckmann enrolled in the Gymnasium at Stade, and in 1759 he entered the University of Göttingen, where he studied theology. He soon turned, however, to mathematics, the natural sciences, public finance and administration, and philology. He fancied languages just as much as scientific subjects.
In 1762, after completing his studies, Beckmann traveled to Brunswick and Holland, where he visited factories, mines, and natural history museums. In 1763 he accepted a teaching position at St. Peter’s Gymnasium, a Lutheran school in St. Petersburg, which had been founded by Anton Friedrich Busching. He taught there for two years. Aside from his teaching, Beckmann occupied himself with projects in the natural sciences, such as meteorological observations, and with the history of the natural sciences.
After his sojourn in St. Petersburg, he took an educational trip, which lasted most of the year 1765-1766, through Sweden and Denmark. Again he inspected factories, mines, and foundries, as well as collections of art and of natural objects. His love for natural history led him to Linnaeus, with whom he studied. In the fall of 1766 Beckmann was appointed extraordinary professor of philosophy in Göttingen. At this time he published his first larger work De historia natural veterum libellus, which admirably combines aspects of natural science with philology.
Since his labors turned more and more to applied botany, agriculture, and public economy, an ordinary professorship of economic sciences was established in 1770 for him, and he occupied this post until his death. He lectured on mineralogy, agriculture, technology, materials science, commerce, and general public administration. Aside from his teaching duties, he devoted himself to writing.
Since agriculture concerns the production of natural products and mining technology leads one into the production of metals, Beckmann became interested in the processing of raw materials by the individual trades. By 1769 he was calling this science of trades “technology,” and in 1777 his Anleitung zur Technologie appeared, the first advanced textbook in this field. It is noteworthy for its systematic approach to the various vocations and for its descriptions of a number of trades. The book was addressed primarily to governmental economic officials, in order to make them cognizant of the problems of trade and manufacture within the framework of public affairs.
Beckmann was not without precursors in his attempts to spread technological knowledge, but he was the only one to succeed in introducing technology as a separate subject into the high school curriculum. He enlivened his lectures by using models and by demonstrations, as well as by conducting inspections of manufacturing establishments. His attempt in 1806 (Entwurf der algemeinen Technologie) to compare the processes that are utilized in the various areas of technology and that are based on the same objectives also deserves special attention. Thus, for example, the various methods of crushing or grinding were examined with a view toward profiting from the transfer of an, especially efficient procedure from one field to another.
Beckmann’s agricultural science followed the empirical treatment of agriculture practiced by the so-called Hausväter and the older economists. In his general economic treatment of agriculture, however, their special treatments of vegetable raising and of animal husbandry received short shrift. Yet his textbook remained prominent in the field for nearly half a century, until superseded by the work of Albrecht Thaer.
Membership
In 1772 Beckmann was elected a member of the Royal Society of Gottingen. In 1790, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1809 he became member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands.
Royal Society of Göttingen
,
Germany
1772 - 1811
Connections
In 1767 Beckmann married the daughter of a parson.