Steinheil, Carl August von (1801-70), German astronomer and mathematician, professor of physics and mathematics in Munich (1832-49), and inventor of optical, electrical, and telegraphic apparatus. It is uncertain exactly when Steinheil began to experiment with photographic processes. But early in 1839, encouraged by reports on the work of Daguerre and Talbot, he collaborated with the mineralogist Franz von Kobell (1803-82), and by April they had created several paper negatives; later that year, Steinheil built a small camera that could take circular daguerreotypes. Experiments with photographs through a microscope are also documented. By 1840 Steinheil had increased the sensitivity of his plates enough to make portrait exposures possible. In 1854, after several years' preoccupation with telegraphy, he founded an optical works in Munich that rapidly prospered. Its success owed much to Steinheil's son Hugo Adolph (1832-93), who refined the calculation of lens designs, and constructed the first wide-angle lens in 1865 and the first aplanat in 1866. Hugo's son Rudolf (1865-1930) followed in his footsteps.
— Jens Jaeger
Bibliography
- Franz, H., Steinheil: Münchner Optik mit Tradition: 1826-1939 (1995)
