Magnus Georg Paucker

Magnus Georg von Paucker (Russian: Магнус-Георг Андреевич Паукер, romanized: Magnus-Georg Andreevič Pauker; 26 November [O.S. 15 November] 1787 – 31 August [O.S. 19 August] 1855) was a Baltic German astronomer and mathematician and the first Demidov Prize winner in 1832 for his work Handbuch der Metrologie Rußlands und seiner deutschen Provinzen.^[2]

Magnus Georg von Paucker
Born	26 November [O.S. 15 November] 1787 Sankt Simonis, Kreis Wierland, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire (present-day Simuna, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia)
Died	31 August [O.S. 19 August] 1855[1] Mitau, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Jelgava, Latvia)
Nationality	Baltic German
Alma mater	Imperial University of Dorpat
Known for	Handbuch der Metrologie Rußlands und seiner deutschen Provinzen
Awards	Demidov Prize (1832)
Scientific career
Institutions	Mitau Gymnasium

Biography

Paucker was born in the small Estonian village of Sankt Simonis (now Simuna). In 1805, he began his studies in astronomy and physics at the University of Dorpat, where his professors included Georg Friedrich Parrot and Johann Wilhelm Andreas Pfaff.^[2] Between 1808 and 1809, Paucker took part in the surveying of the Emajõgi river which was the first geodetic expedition on the territory of Estonia.^[3] In 1809 he contributed to the construction of the first optical telegraph line in Russia from Saint Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo.^[2]

In 1811 Paucker took over as a lecturer at the University of Dorpat, succeeding Ernst Friedrich Knorre. In 1813 he was awarded his Ph.D. for a thesis in solid physics titled De nova explicatione phaenomeni elasticitatis corporum rigidorum.^[2]

Paucker left Dorpat (now Simuna) in 1813 and stayed the rest of his life in Mitau (now Jelgava) where he was a professor of mathematics at the Mitau Gymnasium and an organizer of the first scientific society in Latvia, the Courland Society of Literature and Art [de].^[4]