1789-1875

German Pharmacist and Astronomer

Samuel Schwabe, a pharmacist by training and profession, is best known for his discovery of the 11-year cycles of solar activity and sunspot abundance. As an amateur astronomer, Schwabe's observations helped found the modern era of solar observations and sunspot research.

Schwabe was born in Dessau, Germany, in 1789, the son of a local councilor who was the personal physician to the duke. The oldest of 11 children, Schwabe studied pharmacology in Berlin and, when possible, attended additional lectures in astronomy and botany. Upon his grandfather's death in 1812, Schwabe returned to Dessau to assume responsibility for his pharmacy. There he plied his formal profession until selling the pharmacy in 1829 for enough money to allow him to pursue his scientific interests full-time.

Schwabe was one of the first astronomers to spend extensive time studying the sun. In 1610 Galileo (1564-1642), while observing the...