Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1 July 1742 – 24 February 1799) was a German physicist, satirist, and Anglophile. He was the first person in Germany to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics. He is remembered for his posthumously published notebooks, which he himself called *Sudelbücher*, a description modelled on the English bookkeeping term "waste books" or "scrapbooks", and for his discovery of the tree-like electrical discharge patterns now called Lichtenberg figures. Born in Ober-Ramstadt, he was the youngest of 17 children. He entered the University of Göttingen in 1763. In 1769, he became extraordinary professor of physics, and six years later ordinary professor, holding the post until his death. He visited England twice, impressing King George III. Lichtenberg was a popular and respected figure, introducing Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod to Germany and maintaining relations with figures like Goethe and Kant. He was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1793. Despite his intellectual achievements, he struggled with procrastination. Philosophically, he was influenced by Spinoza and Kant. A spinal malformation made him unusually short and affected his breathing. He met Maria Stechard, who lived with him until her death in 1782. He married Margarethe Kellner in 1789, with whom he had six children. He died in Göttingen in 1799.