Life
Clausius was born in Köslin (now Koszalin in Poland) in the Province of Pomerania in Prussia. He started his education at the school of his father. After a few years, he went to the Gymnasium in Stettin (now Szczecin). Clausius graduated from the University of Berlin in 1844 where he studied mathematics and physics with, among others, Gustav Magnus, Johann Dirichlet and Jakob Steiner. He also studied history with Leopold von Ranke. During 1847, he got his doctorate from the University of Halle on optical effects in the Earth's atmosphere. He then became professor of physics at the Royal Artillery and Engineering School in Berlin and Privatdozent at the Berlin University. In 1855 he became professor at the ETH Zürich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, where he stayed until 1867. During that year, he moved to Würzburg and two years later, in 1869 to Bonn.
In 1870 Clausius organized an ambulance corps in the Franco-Prussian War. He was wounded in battle, leaving him with a lasting disability. He was awarded the Iron Cross for his services.
His wife, Adelheid Rimpham, died in childbirth in 1875, leaving him to raise their six children. He continued to teach, but had less time for research thereafter.
In 1886 he remarried Sophie Sack, and then had another child.
Two years later, on 24 August 1888, he died in Bonn, Germany.
Read more about this topic: Rudolf Clausius
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