Georges Oberhaeuser

Georges Oberhaeuser was a German optician working in Paris in the early to middle 19th century. His contributions, and the contributions of his partner and successor, Edmund Hartnack, were part of the early development of the microscope as a scientific tool on the European continent.

Georges Oberhaeuser
Georg Johann Oberhäuser
Born16 July 1798
Ansbach, Bavaria
Died10 January 1868 (1868-01-11) (aged 69)
Paris, France
Known forOptics and Microscopes manufacturer

Birth and education

Georges Oberhaeuser was born in Ansbach, Bavaria, in 1798 to Michael Adam Oberhäuser (1755–1814), a master turner. The boy attended a university-preparatory school in Ansbach and then was apprenticed to a University of Würzburg machinist surnamed du Mouceau. After his apprenticeship, he emigrated to France, and in 1816 joined the workshop of Henri Gambey (1787–1847).[1][2]

The small drum microscope of Oberhaeuser. this example about 1855.

Microscope and optics workshop

Oberhaeuser's first commercial venture was during partnership with Bouquet und Achille Trécourt in 1822. Oberhaeuser produced one of his most successful early microscope designs for the student market. As research in cell biology and botany broadened, students needed a capable microscope more affordable than the complex expensive models available. The small drum microscope was the combination of a sturdy stand, based on earlier designs by Fraunhofer and Martin.

Oberhaeuser often followed the lead of Giovanni Battista Amici in development of his optical designs, including his adoption of the short 7 inch body tube and Amici's early objective designs.[3]

The compound microscope was just being introduced to serious scientific use as the introduction of achromatic objective lenses made it superior to the simple microscope for research use.[4] Several contemporary publications written for working research scientists and students compared the available microscopes as of their publication dates. Oberhaeuser's objective lenses were consistently judged to be very good.[5][6] He adopted the system used by Amici of several lenses in fixed sequence where each lens served a purpose in correcting aberrations caused by the overall system. The lenses were not independently usable objectives.[3][7] Several competitors continued to use the system described by J. J. Lister in his famous paper;[8] stacked independent objectives. The path pioneered by Amici and Oberhaeuser proved more flexible and ultimately became the most common design used in higher magnification objectives. A modern comparison of a Dutch museum collection supports the contemporary evaluations. The later Oberhaeuser objectives show very good resolution even by modern standards.[9]

The iconic form of the Horseshoe foot design. This one by Oberhaeuser's successor Edmund Hartnack.

Oberhaeuser continued to develop stands to suit the requirements of researchers and introduced the pattern which was to shape the image of the microscope for over a century in 1854; the Oberhaeuser horseshoe foot stand.[10][4]

Retirement and a successor. Edmund Hartnack

Oberhaeuser appointed his nephew Edmund Hartnack a partner in the workshop in 1854 and technical director in 1860. Oberhaeuser eventually withdrew from the day-to-day business of the firm, naming Hartnack as his successor in 1864. By the late 1850s Oberhaeuser and Hartnack had already redesigned their objectives, again following the lead of Amici, to give larger usable apertures and higher resolution. The new series, including their water immersion objectives, would set the standard for excellence for several years.[11] Georges Oberhaeuser died in Paris in 1868.

References
  1. Seeberger, Max (1999). Oberhaeuser, Georg in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 19 (in German). pp. 385 ff.
  2. Most references on Oberhaeuser's life and work are in German. Reviews and discussions of microscope technology were often restricted in geographic scope during his lifetime.
  3. von Mohl, Hugo (1846). Mikrographie, oder Anleitung zur Kenntniss und zum Gebrauche des Mikroskops [Microscopy, or an Introduction to the Understanding and Use of the microscope.] (in German). Tübingen: Verlag und Druck von L. F. Fues. pp. 72–77. Hugo von Mohl Mikrographie.
  4. Mayall, John (Fall 1885). Cantor Lectures on the Microscope. Vol. 1886. Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. pp. 60–66 ff.
  5. Harting, Pieter (1866). Das Mikroskop, Geschichte und gegenwärtiger Zustand des Mikroskopes sowie der Hülfsapparate bei mikroskopischen Untersuchungen [The Microscope, History and Present Status of the Microscope as well as Accessories for Microscopical Investigations.] (in German). Translated by Theile. Braunschweig: Vieweg. pp. 149–156.
  6. Schleiden, Matthias (September 1847). "Über die Wahl eines Mikroskopes" [On the Choice of a Microscope.]. Notizen aus dem Gebiete der Natur und Heilkunde (in German). 67: 1–4.
  7. Meschiari, Alberto (2003). The microscopes of Giovanni Battista Amici (in Italian and English). Florence: Tassinari. pp. IX–XXX. ISBN 978-8888649092.
  8. Lister, Joseph (21 January 1830). "On Some Properties in Achromatic Object-glasses Applicable to the Improvement of the Microscope". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 120: 187–200. Bibcode:1830RSPT..120..187L. doi:10.1098/rstl.1830.0015.
  9. van Cittert, Pieter Hendrick (1934). Descriptive catalogue of the collection of microscopes in charge of the Utrecht university museum, with an introductory historical survey of the resolving power of the microscope. Groningen: P Noordhoff N.V. pp. 8, 9, 78–83.
  10. Dippel, Leopold (1872). Das Mikroskop und seine Anwendung. Erster Teil [The Microscope and its Application. Part 1] (in German). Braunschweig: Druck und Verlag von Friederich Vieweg und Sohn. pp. 159. leopold dippel mikroskop.
  11. Dippel, Leopold (1882). Das Mikroskop und Seine Anwendung, Erster Teil Zweite umgearbeitete Auflage [The Microscope and its Application. Part 1. Second Revised Edition.] (in German). Braunschweig: Druck und Verlag von Friederich Vieweg und Sohn. pp. 432 ff.
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