Background
Simon Stampfer was born on October 26, 1792, in Matrei in Osttirol, Austria. He was the first son of Bartlmä Stampfer, a weaver.
mathematician surveyor and inventor
Simon Stampfer was born on October 26, 1792, in Matrei in Osttirol, Austria. He was the first son of Bartlmä Stampfer, a weaver.
From 1801 he attended the local school and in 1804 and moved to the Franciscan Gymnasium in Lienz, where he studied until 1807. From there he went to the Lyceum in Salzburg, to study philosophy.
In 1814 in Munich, Simon von Stampfer passed the state examination and applied there as a teacher. He chose, however, to stay in Salzburg, where he was an assistant teacher in mathematics, natural history, physics, and Greek at the high school. He then moved to the Lyceum, where he taught elementary mathematics, physics, and applied mathematics. In 1819 he was also appointed a professor.
In his spare time, Simon von Stampfer made geodetic measurements, astronomical observations, experiments on the propagation speed of sound at different heights, and measurements using the barometer. He was often to be seen in the Benedictine Monastery of Kremsmünster which had numerous pieces of astronomical equipment available.
Simon von Stampfer invented the "Wheel of Life," or, as he called it, the stroboscope. Concurrently but independently, Joseph Plateau of Belgium invented the similar phenakistoscope. Both devices placed serial images around the periphery of a disc; the images were reflected off a mirror and through slits in the disc and appeared to move as the disc revolved. Stampfer's device was patented in Austria on May 7, 1833, and he licensed a Vienna print shop to sell his "Optical Magic Disc." The independence of his discovery from Plateau's was verified by Poggendorf in 1834. Stampfer later improved on his invention by using two different discs and no mirror.
In 1822, Simon von Stampfer married Johanna Wagner. They had a daughter in 1824 (Maria Aloysia Johanna) and in 1825 a son (Anton Josef Simon).
