Karl Friedrich Schimper (15 February 1803 – 21 December 1867) was a German
botanist,
naturalist and poet.
Life
Early life and education
Schimper was born in
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
, on February 15, 1803, to Friedrich Ludwig Heinrich Schimper and Margaretha Kathar. Jakob. Wilh. V. Furtenbach.
He was a theology student at
Heidelberg University
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...
and taught at
Munich University
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
.
Career
Schimper pioneered research in the field of plant
morphology
Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to:
Disciplines
* Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts
* Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...
, particularly
phyllotaxis
In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature.
Leaf arrangement
The basic arrangements of leaves on a stem are opposite and alterna ...
. He is perhaps best known as the originator of the theory of
prehistoric hot and cold eras, and was one of the initiators of the modern theories of
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
s and climatic cycles. He was a brother of botanist
Georg Wilhelm Schimper and cousin of botanist
Wilhelm Philippe Schimper.
Bill Bryson
William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...
states in his book ''
A Short History of Nearly Everything'' that Karl Schimper originated the idea of glaciation and proposed the radical idea that ice sheets had once covered much of Europe, Asia, and North America. However, Schimper was known to be reluctant to write and never published his ideas. He discussed them with
Louis Agassiz, who went on to appropriate the idea as his own and, much to Schimper's dismay, undeservedly received much of the credit for its origination.
E.P. Evans: ''The Authorship of the Glacial Theory'', North American review. / Volume 145, Issue 368, July 1887
. Accessed on February 25, 2008.
Death
Schimper died on December 21, 1867, in Schwetzingen.
Works
* ''Beschreibung des Symphytum Zeyheri und seiner zwei deutschen verwandten der S. bulbosum Schimper und S. tuberosum Jacq : mit 6 Steintaf.'' . Winter, Heidelberg 183
Digital edition
by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
References
1803 births
1867 deaths
Scientists from Mannheim
19th-century German botanists
German naturalists
People from the Grand Duchy of Baden
Heidelberg University alumni
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty
German male poets
Writers from Mannheim
Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
German bryologists
{{Germany-poet-stub