- Lorenz Hengler
Lorenz Hengler (b. Reichenhofen,
Würtemberg , 3 Feb., 1806; d. Tigerfeld, 1858) was a Catholic priest who is often credited as the inventor of the horizontalpendulum .At the age of fourteen he entered the Latin School of Leutkirch and attended successively those of
Ehingen andTübingen . In 1828 he studied mathematics and astronomy atMunich . It was at this place, and while a pupil ofFranz von Gruithuisen , that he invented the horizontal pendulum, which has been used in manyseismograph s. In 1832 he published this invention in Gruithuisen's "Analecta", together with some experiments he had made. In 1835 he was ordained inRottenburg and was pastor of Tigerfeld at the time of his death. He left an elaborate telescope unfinished. Others have attributed the invention of the horizontal pendulum toJohann Karl Friedrich Zöllner (1869), and some to Perrot (1862). A full description of the pendulum and its history may be found in Zollner's "Abhandlungen", vol. IV, and also inJohann Poggendorff 's "Annals".ources
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