Johann Benedict Listing

Johann Benedict Listing 's family were of Czech descent. His father, also named Johann Benedict Listing, was a maker of brushes while his mother, Caroline Friederike Listing, came from a poor peasant background. Listing was an only child and brought up in a family which struggled with financial difficulty. He was a bright boy and his talents were such that he received help with his education from several benefactors including the Städel foundation, supporters of art and museums. He received a good foundation for his education at the Musterschule which he attended from the age of eight. In this school he first became interested in science and mathematics, mainly because of his talented teacher Müller, but he had a real talent for art. Listing pleased his parents by helping out with the family's finances by earning a little money from drawing and calligraphy from the age of thirteen. In 1825 Listing entered a Gymnasium where he studied for five years. He mastered English, French, Italian and Latin and well as increasing his knowledge of mathematics and science at this school. He had already decided to pursue an academic career and his talents were recognised by the award of a generous scholarship by the Städel foundation. Being an art foundation they could not support Listing to undertake a degree in mathematics, which would have been his preferred option, but instead awarded him the scholarship for the study of mathematics and architecture. Although there was a time when architecture was considered as a branch of mathematics, it certainly was not considered such in Listing's day so the combination was a rather peculiar one dictated by a compromise between Listing's wishes and the remit of the Städel foundation. Listing entered Göttingen University in 1830 and attended a remarkably broad range of courses, much broader than the mathematics and architecture specified by his scholarship. In addition to these two topics he also took courses on astronomy, anatomy, physiology, botany, mineralogy, geology and chemistry. Soon Listing was attending mathematics courses given by Gauss and he was quickly spotted by Gauss as being both a very able and a very hard working student. Gauss invited him to join his circle of friends who included Weber . Listing was not the only student invited into close friendship with Gauss . Another student was Sartorius von Walterhausen who was one year younger than Listing. Walterhausen, who was interested in geology, became a lifelong friend of Listing. The influence of Gauss on Listing was, however, very marked. It was from Gauss that Listing began to learn topological concepts. He also was a talented experimenter and collaborated with Gauss in physics experiments, particularly those relating to terrestrial magnetism. Gauss became the supervisor of Listing's dissertation De superficiebus secundi ordinis Ⓣ which was on surfaces of the second degree and ternary forms. He received his doctorate in June 1834. The entire doctrine being rather new, he felt justified to give it a new name and therefore called it "topology", which he though more appropriate. When Victoria became Queen of Britain in 1837 her uncle became ruler of Hanover and revoked the liberal constitution. Weber , the professor of physics at Göttingen and a close collaborator of Gauss , was one of seven professors at the university to sign a protest and all seven were dismissed. Weber remained at Göttingen without a position until 1843. However his professorship of physics had to be filled and after a while Gauss was asked to suggest possible candidates. He produced a list of three names with Listing in third place. When the first two turned down the offer, Listing was appointed in 1839 despite never having published a paper. In September 1846 Listing married Pauline Elvers. Almost immediately the couple were in financial problems as Pauline seemed unable to keep her spending within the family's income. Listing continued to think about top