Motif bench: Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803 - 1867)
- Motivbank: Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803 - 1867), Maschinenweg, 68723 Schwetzingen
Born in Mannheim, the scientist Karl Friedrich Schimper had lived in Schwetzingen since 1849. He had studied natural sciences in Heidelberg, but his passion belonged to botany. As early as 1825/26, he helped horticultural director Johann Michael Zeyher with the arrangement of his herbarium and made the acquaintance of philosopher Johann Peter Hebel. As a scientist, he coined the term Ice Age as one of its co-discoverers. He was also considered a pioneer of palaeoclimatology, discovered the formation of the Alps through folding of the earth's crust, developed the leaf position theory of plants and carried out physiological studies on mosses. Schimper was an unrecognised genius in his time. The tragedy of his life was that he wrote his scientific findings mainly in the form of poems and other researchers appropriated the results and ultimately took the credit.
Address
Motivbank: Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803 - 1867)
Maschinenweg, 68723 Schwetzingen