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Hermann von Helmholtz Facts & Worksheets

Hermann von Helmholtz was a physicist and physician who made essential contributions in physiology, physics, psychology, and philosophy among other areas.

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Hermann von Helmholtz was a physicist and physician who made essential contributions in physiology, physics, psychology, and philosophy among other areas.

See the fact file below for more information on the Hermann von Helmholtz or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Hermann von Helmholtz worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was born on August 31,1821 in Potsdam, Prussia.
  • He was the eldest child of Ferdinand Helmholtz who worked as the local Gymnasium headmaster. Hermann’s father also studied philology and philosophy.
  • He had delicate health and was confined to hisr home for the first seven years of his life.
  • His father taught him English, French, Italian, and classical languages.
  • Hermann was also introduced by his father to the works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Immanuel Kant.
  • Young Hermann developed an interest in natural science. His father, however, wanted him to become a medical student.
  • He enrolled at the Friedrich Wilhelm Medical Institute in Berlin in 1838. His received free education on the condition that he work as an army doctor for eight years.
  • While at the institute, Helmholtz conducted research under Johannes Müller.
  • He also learned to play the piano while studying medicine.

CAREER

  • In 1843, upon graduating from medical school, he was given a post in a brigade at Potsdam.
  • With only a few army duties, Helmholtz was able to set up a makeshift laboratory in the barracks and conduct experiments.
  • In 1847, he wrote a dissertation on the conservation of energy. This came to him while he was studying muscle metabolism.
  • Helmholtz believed that there were no vital forces needed to move a muscle, and demonstrated that no energy is lost during the movement of a muscle.
  • He studied the works of Sadi Carnot, James Prescott Joule, and Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron. He proposed a relationship between heat, mechanics, light, magnetism, and electricity.
  • Helmholtz treated these concepts as expressions of one force, which is now known as energy.
  • These theories are published in On the Conservation of Force, released in 1847.
  • Helmholtz was also a forerunner in the study of human audition and vision.
  • He showed interest in the connection of measurable physical stimuli and their corresponding human perception.
  • For instance, a sound wave’s amplitude can be varied, which causes it to be perceived as soft or loud. A linear step in the amplitude of a sound pressure doesn’t directly increase the loudness heard.
  • Helmholtz conducted experimental research and studied the relationship between physical energy and its appreciation, aiming to develop “psychophysical laws”.
  • Hermann also focused more on the unity of the body and mind, and stressed the significance of materialism.
  • In 1848, Hermann was appointed as a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts and as an assistant at the Anatomical Museum which was also in Berlin.
  • The next year, he moved to Königsberg, East Prussia. He worked as an assistant professor and director of the Physiological Institute.
  • Helmholtz measured the speed at which a signal travels along the nerve fiber.
  • He used a newly dissected frog sciatic nerve and the attaching calf muscle and a galvanometer as a sensitive timing device. He attached a mirror to the galvanometer needle to reflect a light beam to a scale, which made it more sensitive.
  • Hermann reported speeds of transmission to range from 24.6 – 38.4 meters per second.
  • In 1851, Hermann invented the ophthalmoscope. This is an instrument utilized to examine the interior of the human eye. This invention revolutionized ophthalmology and made him famous overnight.
  • He published the Handbook of Physiological Optics or Treatise on Physiological Optics, which discusses empirical theories on motion perception, color vision and depth perception.
  • In 1855 Helmholtz became professor of physiology and anatomy at the University of Bonn.
  • He moved to Baden in 1858 and served as a professor of physiology at the University of Heidelberg.
  • His interests advanced from physiology to physics during these years.
  • In 1863, Hermann published the book Sensations of Tone.
  • He also invented a device that can identify the various pitches or frequencies of the pure sine wave components of complex sounds that contain multiple tones.
  • Between 1869 and 1871, Helmholtz studied electrical oscillations.
  • In 1871, Helmholtz was offered the role of professor of physics at the University of Berlin.
  • He gained an interest in electromagnetism, showing his conviction that classical mechanics was most likely the best mode of scientific reasoning.
  • Hermann was one of the first German scientists to value the work of James Maxwell and Michael Faraday in electrodynamics. He further advanced mathematics in this field.

LATER LIFE AND LEGACY

  • Helmholtz spent his later years trying to reduce electrodynamics into a minimum set of mathematical principles. Although he did not achieve this goal, he was able to comprehend all electromagnetic effects.
  • Heinrich Hertz, who discovered radio waves, was one of his students.
  • Hertz’ discovery was viewed to experimentally confirm the theories of Helmholtz, Maxwell, and Faraday.
  • Hermann’s book Sensations of Tone also influenced many musicologists of the 20th century.
  • He was raised to nobility, or Adel, by the Emperor in 1883.
  • At the age of 73, Hermann died on September 8, 1894, in Charlottenburg, Berlin.
  • In honor of him, the largest association of German research institutions is named after him, the Helmholtz Association.
  • He also has an asteroid, lunar crater, and Mars crater named in his honor.
  • On May 16, 1861, Hermann married Anna von Mohl. She worked as a salonnière and as a writer who translated or edited translations of several scientific works.
  • The couple had three children.

Hermann von Helmholtz Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Hermann von Helmholtz across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Hermann von Helmholtz worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Hermann von Helmholtz who was a physicist and physician who made essential contributions in physiology, physics, psychology, and philosophy among other areas.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Hermann’s Life
  • Eye of Truth
  • Awarding Name
  • Meaningful Search
  • Student Pair
  • Conserved Energy
  • Book Area
  • Optical Battle
  • Natural Philosophy
  • A Place in Prussia

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