Hermann von Helmholtz

Birth and family

He was born on August 31, 1821 in Germany

His dad was Ferdinand Helmholtz and was a teacher of philology

His mother was a Hanoverian lady

Schooling He went to University of Konigsberg and

studied physics His father wanted him to study medicine

because of the financial support for medical students

Achievements His first scientific achievement was his

discovery of the principle of conservation of energy while studying muscle metabolism. He tried to demonstrate that no energy is lost in muscle movement. But it was rejection of the speculative tradition of Naturphilosophie which was a dominant philosophical paradigm in German physiology

More Achievements In 1849 at Konigsberg, Helmholtz measured

the speed at signal are carried along a nerve fiber. At that time most people believed that nerve signals passed along nerves immeasurably fast. He used a sciatic nerve of a frog and the calf muscle to which it attached. He used a galvanometer as his timing device and attaching a mirror to the needle to reflect a light beam across the room to a scale which gave greater sensitivity. He reported transmissions speeds in the range of 24.6 - 38.4 meters per second

Death He died in on September 8, 1894(1894-

09-08) at the age of 73 in Charlotte burg, Germany