LICHTENBERG, GEORG CHRISTOPH

born July 1, 1742, Ober-Ramstadt, near Darmstadt, Hesse died Feb. 24, 1799, Gttingen, Hanover German physicist and satirical writer, best known for his ridicule of metaphysical and romantic excesses. Lichtenberg was the 17th child of a Protestant pastor, who taught him mathematics and natural sciences. In 1763 he entered Gttingen University, where in 1769 he became extraordinary professor of physics and in 1775 ordinary professor. This post he held until his death. Lichtenberg did research in a wide variety of fieldsincluding geophysics, volcanology, meteorology, chemistry, astronomy, and mathematicsbut most important were his investigations into physics. Notably, he constructed a huge electrophorus and, in the course of experimentations, discovered in 1777 the basic principle of modern xerographic copying; the images that he reproduced are still called Lichtenberg figures. As a satirist and humorist Lichtenberg takes high rank among the German writers of the 18th century. His biting wit involved him in many controversies with well-known contemporaries, such as Johann Kaspar Lavater, whose science of physiognomy he ridiculed, and Johann Heinrich Voss, whose views on Greek pronunciation called forth a powerful satire, ber die Pronunciation der Schpse des alten Griechenlandes (1782; On the Pronunciation of the Muttonheads of Old Greece). In 1769 and again in 1774 he resided for some time in England, and his Briefe aus England (177678; Letters from England) are the most attractive of his writings. He contributed to the Gttinger Taschenkalender (Gttingen Pocket Almanac) from 1778 onward and to the Gttingisches Magazin der Literatur und Wissenschaft (Gttingen Magazine of Literature and Science), which he edited for three years (178082) with J.G.A. Forster. He also published in 179499 an Ausfhrliche Erklrung der Hogarthschen Kupferstiche (Full Explanation of Hogarthian Copper Engravings).