Johann Daniel Titius

Johann Daniel Titius (born Johann Daniel Tietz(e), 2 January 1729 – 16 December 1796) was a German astronomer and a professor at Wittenberg.

Titius was born in Konitz (Chojnice), Royal Prussia (Crown of Poland) to Jakob Tietz, a merchant and council member from Konitz, and Maria Dorothea, née Hanow. His original name was Johann Tietz, but as was customary in the 18th century, when he became a university professor, he Latinized his surname to Titius. Tietz attended school in Danzig (Gdańsk) and studied at the University of Leipzig (1749–1752). He died in Wittenberg, Electorate of Saxony. In 1765 he presented a survey of thermometry up to that date. He wrote about the metallic thermometer constructed by Hanns Loeser. In his treatises on both theoretical and experimental physics, he incorporated the findings of other scientists, such as the descriptions of experiments written by Georg Wolfgang Kraft in 1738.

Biology Titius was also active in biology, particularly in classification of organisms and minerals.