Hermann von HelmholtzBorn 31 Aug 1821; died 8 Sep 1894 at age 73. Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a German physiologist and physicist who contribed much to physiology, optics, electrodynamics, mathematics, and meteorology, including the law of the conservation of energy (1847). He also developed thermodynamics, in particular introducing concept of free energy. In 1850, he measured the speed of a nerve impulse and, in 1851, invented the ophthalmoscope. He discovered the function of the cochlea in the inner ear and developed Thomas Young's theory of colour vision (published 1856). His study of muscle action led him to formulate a much more accurate theory concerning the conservation of energy than earlier proposed by Robert Mayer and James Joule. |
