Joseph von Fraunhofer
Joseph von Fraunhofer
Catholic scientist and physicist. Born Straubing, Bavaria, 1787 ; died Munich, Germany , 1826 . At the age of twelve he became an apprentice to a lens-grinder, working six years without pay. By his unaided efforts he rose to be professor royal in the Munich optical institute, 1819 . His fame rests chiefly on his initiation of spectrum analysis, the discovery of the Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum and his establishing of the laws of diffraction.