Hermann Albert Kobold
The following notes of the blind author, entitled ``leaves of memory'' were written in 1940, two years before his death. The notes, which were written by hand with the aid of a special deskpad, were later transcribed. The present edition contains the complete text; only incorrectly written or transcribed names of persons or geographical places were corrected. The autobiography covers Hermann Kobold's youth and education in Hannover (1858--1877), his scientific studies at Göttingen University (1877--1880), the time as an assistant at Nicolaus von Konkoly's private observatory (1880-1883), his participation in the Venus transit expedition to Aiken,South Carolina (1882), his work for the German Venus Transit Commission in Berlin (1883-1886), and his years as an observer and professor at the University Observatory in Strasbourg (1886-1902). The notes come to a close with Kobold's departure from Strasbourg to accept a position at Kiel University Observatory. The autobiography gives a subjective view of scientific and university life in the last decades of the 19th century, a view which is, however, free from any ``self-censured'' texts like annual reports or obituaries. The notes offer rare insights, e.g. in the behaviour of Kobold's contemporaries and the influence exercised in the case of appointments.
Manuscript in pdf format: jad10_5b.pdf