Wilhelm von Beetz

Wilhelm von Beetz (1822 to 1886) was a German physicist known for his studies of electrical conductivity. Born in Berlin, he studied physics, chemistry and physiology at the University of Berlin and stayed on there as an instructor of physics at the Cadet Corps, followed by teaching at the artillery and engineering school. He was a professor at the universities of Bern from 1856 and Erlangen from 1858, and in 1868 he became a professor at the Technical University of Munich, where he was director from 1874 to 1877. A co-founder of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft in 1845, he became a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in 1869 and in 1882 was named president of the International Electricity Exposition in Munich. His best known work was the textbook Leitfaden der Physik, which reached a fourth edition in 1872.