# Karl Ledersteger > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Karl_Ledersteger > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Karl_Ledersteger.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Ledersteger > Source revision: 1172246399 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) **Karl Ledersteger** (11 November 1900, in [Vienna](/source/Vienna) – 24 September 1972, near Vienna) was an important [geodesist](/source/Geodesy) and [geophysicist](/source/Geophysics). After studies of [astronomy](/source/Astronomy), mathematics and geodesy he worked in Germany and later in the [National Survey of Austria](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Survey_of_Austria&action=edit&redlink=1). Later he set up the scientific department of the [Federal Office for Metrology and Survey](/source/Federal_Office_for_Metrology_and_Survey) (BEV), Vienna. In the 1950s he was appointed as a [professor](/source/Professor) of [geodesy](/source/Geodesy) and [astrometry](/source/Astrometry) at the [Technical University of Vienna](/source/Technical_University_of_Vienna). He was head of many research projects, and author of about 200 scientific articles. Still a standard work of [astronomical](/source/Astrogeodesy) and [physical geodesy](/source/Physical_geodesy) is his textbook of *Erdmessung* (Vol. V of the series *Handbuch der Vermessungskunde*, 871 p.) published 1969. In 1958/59, Ledersteger was the first geodesist in Central Europe who published on the future fields of [satellite geodesy](/source/Satellite_geodesy). Other topics of his research were: - Theory of National survey (Landesvermessung) - and practical computation of the ZEN (Zentraleuropäisches Netz, Berlin ~1940) and of parts of the [ED50](/source/ED50) - Theory of [equilibrium](/source/Hydrostatic_equilibrium) figures of Earth and [planets](/source/Planet) - [Isostasy](/source/Isostasy) of the Earth's crust and its effect on [geoid](/source/Geoid) determination; a main part was published posthumously by his successor [Kurt Bretterbauer](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kurt_Bretterbauer&action=edit&redlink=1) - the system of [vertical deflections](/source/Vertical_deflection) and the definition of [reference ellipsoids](/source/Reference_ellipsoid). Ledersteger was in intensive contact with the scientific community of whole Europe, US and Russia (e.g. [Viktor Ambartsumian](/source/Viktor_Ambartsumian), B. Gutenberg, [F. Hopfner](/source/Friedrich_Hopfner), W. Heiskanen, [M. Kneissl](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Max_Kneissl&action=edit&redlink=1), Sir [Harold Jeffreys](/source/Harold_Jeffreys), Vening Meinesz, [H. Moritz](/source/Helmut_Moritz), A. Prey, [H. H. Schmid](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H._H._Schmid&action=edit&redlink=1), [E. Wiechert](/source/Ernst_Wiechert) and S. Zhongolovitch). For almost 20 years he was chair of [ÖKIE](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%C3%96KIE&action=edit&redlink=1) (Austrian Commission for international Geodesy) and a member of many international commissions and research groups, e.g. in [IUGG](/source/IUGG), [DGK](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deutsche_Geod%C3%A4tische_Kommission&action=edit&redlink=1) and scientific academies of Austria, Germany and Hungary. Ledersteger received many prizes, several doctorates *honoris causa* and calls to [universities](/source/Universities). In Vienna he was asked to begin geodetic lectures immediately after World War II, but his professorship was postponed for 10 years because of his participation in [Nazi](/source/Nazism) surveys 1940–1945. He translated several works including a textbook of [Magnizki](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wladimir_Alexandrowitsch_Magnizki&action=edit&redlink=1) & Browar on theoretical geodesy. ## External links, sources and literature - [Literature Online](http://webapp.uibk.ac.at/alo/cat/collection.jsp?id=5013672), University [Innsbruck](/source/Innsbruck), c. 20 titles - [Karl Ledersteger](http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1970QB280.A45h13...&db_key=AST) 70 years, [Harvard](/source/Harvard_University) - K. Ledersteger: "Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie (Erdmessung)", *[Handbuch der Vermessungskunde](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Handbuch_der_Vermessungskunde&action=edit&redlink=1)*, [Wilhelm Jordan](/source/Wilhelm_Jordan_(geodesist)), [Otto Eggert](/source/Otto_Eggert) and [Max Kneissl](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Max_Kneissl&action=edit&redlink=1) ed., Volume V, chapter 4 (Geoid) and 11 (gravity), J.B.Metzler-Verlag, Stuttgart 1968 - K. Ledersteger, several lectures and reprints (Austrian & German Univ.libraries), c. 1940 bis 1975 - [Péter Biró](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=P%C3%A9ter_Bir%C3%B3_(scientist)&action=edit&redlink=1): *100 éve született Karl Ledersteger* (K. Ledersteger 100th birthday). Geodézia és Kartográfia, Vol.52/12 (p. 32 ff), Budapest 2000. - [Karl Ledersteger](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=idn%3D118727036) in the [German National Library](/source/German_National_Library) catalogue Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States Netherlands Norway Israel People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef This article about an Austrian scientist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Austria-scientist-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AAustria-scientist-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Austria-scientist-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Karl Ledersteger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Ledersteger) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Ledersteger?action=history)). 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