Helmholtz

Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz

Born: 31 Aug 1821 in Potsdam, Germany
Died: 8 Sept 1894 in Berlin, Germany

Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page
Hermann von Helmholtz graduated from the Medical Institute in Berlin in 1843 and was assigned to a military regiment at Potsdam, but spent all his spare time doing research. In 1858 he became professor of anatomy and physiology at Bonn, then in 1871, professor of physics at Berlin.

His most important work was in mathematical physics and acoustics where his major study of 1863 was interested in musical theory and the perception of sound. In mathematical appendices he advocated the use of Fourier series. He published an important paper on the first law of thermodynamics in 1842.

Helmholtz investigated the properties of non-Euclidean space and showed that these could be worked with as easily as the geometry of three dimensions.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. L Königsberger, Hermann von Helmholtz (New York, 1965).
  3. E du Bois-Reymond, Hermann von Helmholtz, Gedächtnissrede (Leipzig, 1897).
  4. D Cahan (ed.), Hermann von Helmholtz and the Foundations of Nineteenth-Century Science (1994).
  5. H Ebert, Hermann von Helmholtz (Stuttgart, 1949).
  6. J F Mulligan, Hermann von Helmholtz and his students, American journal of physics 57 (1989), 68-74.
  7. C Jungnickel and R McCormmach, Intellectual Mastery of Nature, 2 Volumes (Chicago, 1986). 
Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page

History Topics Index              Famous curves index

Chronologies                           Birthplace Map

Mathematicians of the day  Anniversaries for the year

Search Form   Simple Search Form   Search Suggestions
JOC/EFR February 1996