Johann Madler Biography



Johann Madler was born in Berlin in 1794.  He studied both mathematics and astronomy later in his life the University of Berlin.  One of his contemporaries and most influential companions was Johann Encke who studied there with Madler. 

However, probably the most influential persons in Madler's life was a man named Wilhelm Beer.  Beer offered Madler a position at the observatory that he was creating and this is where Madler made most of the observations that helped him make large contributions to the field of astronomy.  His largest and most commonly used contributions is his plotting of the moon's cycle.  He was the first to divide it up into four seperate quadrants which we now know today as waxing and waning gibbous, and waxing and waning crescent. 

Another idea that Madler came up with that was not so brilliant was the idea of the Central Sun Hypothesis.  This stated that the center of the universe was found in the star cluster Pleiades and that the sun revolved around it.  We now understand that this is not true at all.

He also did significant research on Mars with Beer.  The use of the Sinus Meridiani as the prime meridian for Mars can be attributed to Madler.  Also, in relation to Mars, Johann calculated the rotation period of Mars and was only off by 1.1 seconds.

There are Madler craters on both the Moon and Mars which obviously relate back to Johann. 

Madler was a man that was obsessed with education.  To sustain his family he worked as a private tutor, in the realm of teaching.  His last piece of published material was the History of Descriptive Astronomy in 1873 which was his last work as he died March 14 1874.