Career
After studying law, physics and natural history, in 1791 he was appointed to a diplomatic post by Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. From 1832 onwards he was the director of Gotha"s royal science and art collections and he also wrote the five-volume Geschichte der durch Überlieferung nachgewiesenen natürlichen Veränderungen der Erdoberfläche from 1822 to 1841.