Rezension

The volume at hand is part of the series “Relationes”, in which the results of a research project on scientific relations between Russia and Germany in the 19th century (conducted by the Saxonian Academy of Sciences) are currently being published. This edition of letters to the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg written by German scientists between 1806 and 1834 is closely tied to another major publication on scientific connections of Carl Friedrich Gauß with Russia by Reich and Roussanova, which served as a model with respect to methodological approach, interpersonal relations and issues of content (Carl Friedrich Gauß und Russland: Sein Briefwechsel mit in Russland wirkenden Wissenschaftlern, Berlin/Boston, Mass. 2012). A thorough delineation of the editorial principles is prefixed, followed by introductory remarks on the collection of autographs of Wilhelm Stieda (1852–1933) preserved in Leipzig University Library with biographical notes. Stieda was born in Riga and studied in Dorpat (now Tartu in Estonia). In 1898 he was appointed as professor for national economy in Leipzig and became interested in the history of science, especially in scientific relations between Russia and Germany. In several publications (listed on p. 34) Stieda dealt with the history of Dorpat University, the history of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg and the influence of German scholars on science and education in Russia. Moreover, he was an avid collector of scientific correspondence.

A distinctive feature of the letters published in this volume is their continuous orientation to Nikolaus and Paul Heinrich Fuss, both permanent secretaries of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. The five selected authors of Stieda’s collection are the astronomers and mathematicians J. W. A. Pfaff (1774–1835, with 6 letters), J. S. G. Huth (1763–1818, with 17 letters), W. Struve (1793–1864, with 7 letters), M. Bartels (1769–1836, with 13 letters) and M. G. Paucker (1787–1855, with 40 letters). These scientists were acquainted to each other, had (at least in part) familiar relations and shared mutual scientific interests. The university of Dorpat was important for all of them as institutional setting, and there were ties to other Russian universities (Charkov, Kazan), as well as to the “Gymnasium illustre” at Mitau (nowadays Jelgava in Latvia). With the exception of Wilhelm Struve the other scholars are not very well-known, but they had considerable influence on the education of Russian students and future professors, after Tsar Alexander I. reformed the Russian educational system profoundly in 1803 and founded new universities in Dorpat, Vilna, Kazan and Charkov. To each person biographical notes are presented, and the diligently researched commentaries to the edited letter texts have been put in front in topical order. Although the Academy correspondence covers a limited space of time and therefore cannot display an all-embracing picture of the work and scientific achievements of the above-mentioned scholars, the book offers a wealth of information. The editors obviously have spared no efforts in pursuing even minute details.
The chapter on Wilhelm Struve contains remarks concerning his early career and astronomical activities in Dorpat, and in addition his connections to the Russian Imperial Academy are delineated: Struve became a corresponding member already in 1822 and due to his widely noticed scientific work he was elected as an ordinary member ten years later. Notwithstanding his obvious merits this was an exceptional case, because usually only scientists living in St. Petersburg were considered as ordinary members of the Imperial Academy. It is very likely that the decision had been made with some foresight in view of building a new observatory in Pulkovo, which was completed in 1839.
Specialist publications (notably editions of primary sources) are no bestsellers and occasionally produced rather inexpensively under financial pressures. Too often the result is an unsatisfactory appearance with respect to aesthetic regards. This cannot be said of the handsome book at hand however, which is hardbound and has been printed on paper of high quality. Its layout is clear and reader-friendly. Thanks to the painstaking work of Reich and Roussanova an important contribution to the history of astronomy and mathematics in the early 19th century has been made. This edition is exemplary for fine scholarship and can be recommended wholeheartedly.