The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Moebius, August Ferdinand

MOEBIUS, me′bē-oos, August Ferdinand, German astronomer: b. Schulpforta, Germany, 17 Nov. 1790; d. Leipzig 26 Sept. 1868. He was graduated from the University of Leipzig in 1815, and was for 50 years professor of astronomy there. Through his efforts the observatory was remodeled and by his writings be established a new principle concerning the affinities of figures and proved the close connection between statics and geometry. He published ‘Der Barycentrische Calcul’ (1827); ‘Lehrbuch der Statik’ (1837); ‘Die Elemente der Mechanik des Himmels’ (1843); ‘Haupsätze der Astronomie’ (4th ed., Leipzig 1853), etc.