[1] Leonhard Sohncke studied mathematics and sciences at the University in his native town,[1] and passed the examination for high school teachers in 1862.

In this time he wrote his doctoral thesis in mathematics, which he submitted to Halle University, where he was in contact with Eduard Heine and Carl Neumann.

[10] A major experimental study dealt with the cohesion of rock salt by measuring its ultimate tensile strength in the different crystallographic directions (1869).

[14] This sense for history of science led him write a special publication on Johann F. C. Hessel (1891), who had discovered the 32 crystallographic point groups in 1830, but was nearly completely ignored by his colleagues.

[15] Early in Königsberg (1867), he demonstrated a presumption of the Göttingen astronomer Wilhelm Klinkerfues on an influence of a star's motion to the refraction of its light, with consequence of breaking the Doppler effect, was in error.

They found errors in the previous concepts on this matter; in contrary to preceding research they took into account the thickness of the plane glass and the extension of the source of light.

He was co-founder and chairman of the "Münchener Vereinigung für Luftschiffahrt" (Munich Association for Airshipping), and published meteorological results taken from balloon journeys together with Sebastian Finsterwalder.