Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand Helmholtz

German philosopher, scientist, and physician Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand Helmholtz

German philosopher, scientist, and physician Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand Helmholtz, also known as Hermann von Helmholtz, was all of these things. Hermann contributed groundbreaking ideas to the fields of weather, options, mathematics, physiology, and electrodynamics. Hermann was the son of a philologist and philosopher who oversaw a school. He was born on August 31, 1821, in Potsdam, Prussia. Hermann’s ability to master and relate various fields made his work exceptional. The many roles he held and the contributions he made reflect his abilities and interests. The scientist’s ability to focus on a variety of disciplines makes it difficult to understand how his intellect worked. (Meulders, 2016). Hermann von Helmholtz work was extraordinary owing to his skills in different subjects and his ability to relate them and make significant inputs in the various fields.

Hermann’s Education and Career

Hermann graduated from medical school and enrolled into the military where he served as a physician. After his release from the forces, he was a professor at various institutions where he taught anatomy and physiology. While working at the University of Bonn, Hermann’s scientific curiosity extended from physiology to physics. His developing interest in science got recognition when he got an offer to be a professor of physics at the University of Berlin. He later became the director of Berlin Physico-Technical Institute (Meulders, 2016). Hermann throughout his work in the various disciplines was able to synchronize the ideas he had gotten from his experience in the subjects and related them to the problems he evaluated. His most recognized work, Handbook of Physiological Optics, just like his other scientific works, demonstrated a thorough philosophical insight. Hermann had the tendency to shape his work from physiological assessments and exemplify them with mathematical exactitude as well as physical principles (Hiebert, 2014).

Hermann’s Refutation of Nature Philosophy

The common premise that runs through most of Hermann’s work is his refutation of nature philosophy, a concept from Kant’s studies. Hermann dismissed Kant’s views stating that all knowledge acquisition was as a result of the use of senses. In Hermann’s work, he demonstrated his view that one could summarize all the scientific knowledge using the laws of classical mechanics that comprise, matter, force, and energy. Due to Hermann’s mastery in both physics and mathematics, his work was unique to that of all the physiologists at the time because he could subject his studies to mathematical and physical assessment. His work of 1847, titled On the Conservation of Force denoted an era in both the histories of physiology and that of physics. Using his skills and desire to research in the scientific field Hermann invented the ophthalmoscope (Hiebert, 2014).

Hermann’s Revolutionary Contributions

Clearly, Hermann’s nature of work showed his great mastery in various scientific disciplines including physics and physiology. Hermann’s work was the as a result of his efforts to develop classical mechanics. He put in efforts into thorough research to prove that different levels and happenings in life include the human body, animals, and electricity among other forces could all generate an explanation from classical mechanics. His innovative thinking pushed him to dismiss some of the greatest works such as that of Kant and went ahead to prove that his idea was right. Hermann took most of the time in his last years of life trying to summarize all electrodynamics into a small set of mathematical ideology (Meulders, 2016). Hence, Hermann’s mastery of various scientific disciplines positioned him as one of the most revolutionary scientists who ever lived.

References

Hiebert, E. (2014). Berlin: Capital of the New German Reich. In The Helmholtz legacy in physiological acoustics (pp.125-130). Springer International Publishing.

Meulders, M. (2016). Helmholtz. MIT Press.