Hermann von Helmholtz
Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz[a] (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability.[2] The Helmholtz Association, the largest German association of research institutions, is named in his honour.[3]
"Helmholtz" redirects here. For other uses, see Helmholtz (disambiguation).
Hermann von Helmholtz
8 September 1894 (aged 73)
Medicinisch-chirurgisches Friedrich-Wilhelm-Institut (M.D., 1842)
- Studies in the conservation of energy
- Helmholtz classical theorem
- Helmholtz coil
- Helmholtz condition
- Helmholtz decomposition
- Helmholtz equation
- Helmholtz free energy
- Helmholtz free entropy
- Helmholtz layer
- Helmholtz motion
- Helmholtz minimum dissipation theorem
- Helmholtz pitch notation
- Helmholtz reciprocity
- Helmholtz resonance
- Helmholtz temperament
- Helmholtz's theorems
- Helmholtz–Ellis notation
- Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect
- Helmholtz–Smoluchowski equation
- Helmholtz–Thévenin theorem
- Gibbs–Helmholtz equation
- Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
- Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
- Young–Helmholtz theory
- Smith-Helmholtz invariant
- Additive synthesis
- Efference copy
- Heat death paradox
- Hydrodynamic stability
- Keratometer
- Ophthalmoscopy
- Place theory
- Prism adaptation
- Pure tone
- Entoptic phenomenon
- Supercapacitor
- Unconscious inference
- Vortex ring
3
Anna Augusta Von Helmholtz-Phelan (grand-niece)
- ForMemRS (1860)
- Matteucci Medal (1868)
- Croonian Medal (1864)
- Copley Medal (1873)
- Pour le Mérite (1873)
- Faraday Lectureship Prize (1881)
- Albert Medal (1888)
In the fields of physiology and psychology, Helmholtz is known for his mathematics concerning the eye, theories of vision, ideas on the visual perception of space, colour vision research, the sensation of tone, perceptions of sound, and empiricism in the physiology of perception. In physics, he is known for his theories on the conservation of energy and on the electrical double layer, work in electrodynamics, chemical thermodynamics, and on a mechanical foundation of thermodynamics. As a philosopher, he is known for his philosophy of science, ideas on the relation between the laws of perception and the laws of nature, the science of aesthetics, and ideas on the civilizing power of science.
Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
Helmholtz was born in Potsdam, the son of the local gymnasium headmaster, Ferdinand Helmholtz, who had studied classical philology and philosophy, and who was a close friend of the publisher and philosopher Immanuel Hermann Fichte. Helmholtz's work was influenced by the philosophy of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Immanuel Kant. He tried to trace their theories in empirical matters like physiology.
As a young man, Helmholtz was interested in natural science, but his father wanted him to study medicine. Helmholtz earned a medical doctorate at Medicinisch-chirurgisches Friedrich-Wilhelm-Institute in 1842 and served a one-year internship at the Charité hospital[4] (because there was financial support for medical students).
Trained primarily in physiology, Helmholtz wrote on many other topics, ranging from theoretical physics to the age of the Earth, and to the origin of the Solar System.
University posts[edit]
Helmholtz's first academic position was as a teacher of anatomy at the Academy of Arts in Berlin in 1848.[5] He then moved to take a post of associate professor of physiology at the Prussian University of Königsberg, where he was appointed in 1849. In 1855 he accepted a full professorship of anatomy and physiology at the University of Bonn. He was not particularly happy in Bonn, however, and three years later he transferred to the University of Heidelberg, in Baden, where he served as professor of physiology. In 1871 he accepted his final university position, as professor of physics at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin.
1889 copy of Helmholtz's "Uber die Erhaltung der Kraft", no. 1
Title page of "Uber die Erhaltung der Kraft", no. 1
First page of "Uber die Erhaltung der Kraft", no. 1
Students and associates[edit]
Other students and research associates of Helmholtz at Berlin included Max Planck, Heinrich Kayser, Eugen Goldstein, Wilhelm Wien, Arthur König, Henry Augustus Rowland, Albert A. Michelson, Wilhelm Wundt, Fernando Sanford and Michael I. Pupin. Leo Koenigsberger, who was his colleague from 1869 to 1871 in Heidelberg, wrote the definitive biography of him in 1902.
