Universal scholar with a sense for the practical

The Helmholtz Association bears the name of Hermann von Helmholtz, one of the greatest natural scientists of the 19th century.

His groundbreaking research work spanned the fields of medicine, physics and chemistry and combined theory with experiments and practical applications. Helmholtz founded the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR) and served as its first president. The PTR was the world's first scientific research center outside the university sector and is thus considered a predecessor to the Helmholtz Association.

Biography

Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand Helmholtz – at the time still without the "von" – was born in Potsdam on August 31, 1821 as the son of a grammar school teacher. He studied at the Berlin Military Academy and earned his medical doctorate in 1842. Initially, Helmholtz took a position as military doctor in Potsdam and subsequently taught anatomy at the Berlin Academy of Art.He was appointed to the Chair of Physiology and Pathology in Königsberg on the recommendation of Alexander von Humboldt, a position he held until 1855. Other chairs followed, in Bonn (1855 to 1858) and Heidelberg (1858 to 1871). In1871, Helmholtz became Professor of Physics and taught at the University of Berlin. In the late 1880s, he became the founding president of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in Charlottenburg, which he and Werner von Siemens established and which still exists today as national metrology institute under the name of Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB).Hermann von Helmholtz died in Berlin-Charlottenburg on September 8, 1894.

Research and Development

Helmholtz's research spanned medicine, physics and mathematics, and even psychology, music and philosophy.

One of his research findings that is still important today was his formulation of the law "On the conservation of energy". Studies on metabolism led Helmholtz to this finding.

Helmholtz was the first scientist to measure the wavelengths of ultraviolet light and to calculate the capacity of the light microscope. He developed the "three-component theory of color vision", which took on new significance with the advent of color television. Helmholtz developed the theory of air speed in open tubes while investigating the field of acoustics.

His studies on hydrodynamics and on the theory of electrodynamics set the course for later generations of scientists. And it was Helmholtz who mathematically formulated the first main theorem of thermodynamics.

Due to his mathematical studies on cyclones, thunderstorms, air and water waves, and glaciers, Helmholtz is considered one of the founding fathers of modern meteorology.

Ophthalmologists and their patients owe a debt of gratitude to Helmholtz for his invention of the ophthalmoscope, which enabled physicians to look inside a person’s eye and see the details of the retina for the first time. He additionally developed the ophthalmometer, an instrument for measuring corneal curvature. Finally, Helmholtz also studied philosophy. His writings examined the epistemological consequences of theoretical natural science.
Source: Helmholtz Association

For further information, please go to: www.helmholtz.de