03.04.2024

The rescue book by Johann Heinrich Moritz von Poppe

is our object of the month for April

Johann Heinrich Moritz von Poppe was born in Göttingen in 1776. His father was a university mechanic, the family had many children and money was always tight. From an early age, Poppe helped out in his father's workshop, whose most lucrative business was repairing clocks. Poppe would have liked to study mathematics after school, but his financial situation and his father's illness made this impossible for the time being. It was not until 1794, when all young men aged 17 and over except students were conscripted into the army, that Poppe enrolled in Göttingen and studied mathematics and physics, as well as technology and political economy.

You can read about the rescue book and the prize questions in which Johann Heinrich Moritz von Poppe took part here.