Helmut Moritz

Helmut Moritz (1 November 1933 – 21 October 2022) was an Austrian physical geodesist. He became internationally known for his fundamental work on error propagation in geodesy. He was a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and many other international academies and societies. From 1991 to 1995, he was president of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).

Early life and education

Moritz was born in Graz, Austria as the only son of Josef and Karoline Moritz. His father was a calibration officer who was killed in action in France during the Second World War in 1944. Helmut studied geodesy at the Graz University of Technology (TH Graz) from 1951 to 1956, graduating in 1956 with a degree in Surveying. From 1955 to 1958, he worked as a research assistant at the TH Graz; in 1959, he was awarded a Dr. techn. degree by Sub auspiciis Praesidentis. From 1958 to 1964 he was employed in Graz as an official of the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying (Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen, BEV). In 1960, he received his habilitation at the Graz University of Technology.

Career In 1962, he became a Visiting Research Associate at the Department of Geodetic Science at Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, Ohio, US. His research was strongly supported by Professor Weikko A. Heiskanen. Moritz became internationally known for his fundamental work on error propagation in geodesy. He studied publications by the mathematicians and cyberneticists Norbert Wiener and Andrei Nikolayevich Kolmogorov, and expanded his academic teaching in theoretical geodesy. This was later reflected in the book Physical Geodesy, co-authored with Heiskanen; this work was translated from English into Chinese, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, and Turkish and became a geodetic bestseller. His first research appointment at Ohio State University thus opened up long-term perspectives for Moritz; he remained in professional contact with this university for more than 20 years.

In 1964, he initially returned to the BEV in Graz, and soon after became a private lecturer at the TH Hannover. Here he continued his work on the geodetic boundary value problem of the great Russian geodesist Mikhail Molodenskii for the determination of the Earth's shape from measurements of gravity and gravitational potential. Moritz was appointed Full Professor of Physical Geodesy at Technische Universität Berlin in 1964. In 1971, Moritz received a call to be a full Professor at the Graz University of Technology where he remained until his retirement in 2002.

During his time in Graz, Moritz compiled and carefully structured the mathematical and statistical foundation of collocation in all its facets in his fundamental book Advanced Physical Geodesy (1980). Jointly with Ivan I. Mueller he wrote the volume Earth Rotation: Theory and Observation (1987). His book Geometry, Relativity, and Geodesy (1992), jointly written with Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof, may be considered a sort of bridge building, starting from the curved surface, known to every contemporary geodesist, towards the curved space. His book Science, Mind and the Universe (1995) can be understood as a demanding journey into the vast dimensions of our universe, and its reflection in our human mind, enriched by a glimpse into the special and general theories of relativity and quantum physics. And finally, a strong international demand for a revised new edition of his fundamental early book Physical Geodesy, now jointly with B. Hofmann-Wellenhof, closed the circle of his scientific volumes. After a reversion to his faith, Moritz was a practicing Catholic.

Moritz died on 21 October 2022 in Graz.

Honours and awards

1963 Kaarina and W. A. Heiskanen Award, Ohio State University 1977 Carl-Friedrich-Gauss-Medal, Braunschweig. Sci. Society 1983 Alexander-von-Humboldt-Medal, Acad. Sci. Berlin 1998 Copernicus-Medal, Polish Acad. Sci. 2008 Struve-Medaille, Pulkovo Observatory, Russia 2008 Tsiolkovsky-Medal, Moscow 1981 Dr.-Ing. h. c. Technical University of Munich 1992 DSc. h. c. Ohio State University 1994 Dr. h. c. of Geodesy, Aerophotogrammetry and Cartography, Moscow 1993 Prof. h. c. Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping, PR China 2014 Order of Friendship, Moscow

The asteroid 29250 Helmutmoritz was named after Moritz.

Membership in Academies of Sciences Moritz was a member in the following academies of sciences:

1970 Finland 1974 Italy / Lincei 1976 Austria: corresponding, 1988 full member 1983 Hungary: honorary member 1984 Sweden / Engineering Sciences 1984 Spain 1984 Germany (Berlin) 1987 Germany / Leopoldina, Halle 1988 Poland 1992 Academia Europaea / London 1994 Croatia 1985 Royal Astronomical Society 2000 China 2001 Yugoslavia / Engineering Sciences

Publications Moritz's research has resulted in 9 books and over 230 publications.

Together with Weikko A. Heiskanen: Physical Geodesy. Freeman, San Francisco CA u. a. 1967. Advanced Physical Geodesy (Wichmann. Vol. 13). Wichmann u. a., Karlsruhe u. a. 1980. Together with Ivan I. Mueller: Earth Rotation – Theory and Observation. Ungar, New York 1987. Together with Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof: Geometry, Relativity, Geodesy. Wichmann, Heidelberg, Science, Mind and the Universe. An Introduction to Natural Philosophy. Wichmann, Heidelberg 1995. Together with Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof: Physical Geodesy (New edition). Springer, Wien u. a. 2005. Berta Moritz, Helmut Moritz: Über Naturgesetze und Evolution. Ein Beitrag zu einem interdisziplinären Dialog. Verleger: IMABE, Wien 2007.