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| Gustav Robert Kirchoff |
There are a lot of great names in the world of science and one of the
most notable ones is Gustav Robert Kirchoff. This German physicist has
made massive contributions to the fundamental understanding of
black-body radiation emitted by heated objects, spectroscopy, and
electrical circuits. He also worked with other famous names in science
and came up with other profound breakthroughs and theories. Indeed, he
is a man who made great leaps and bounds in the world of physics and
chemistry and there are things worth finding out about this scientist.
Gustav Kirchoff was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia where his father,
Friedrich Kirchoff, worked as a law councilor. Friedrich Kirchoff had a
very strong sense of duty to the state of Prussia and Johanna Henriette
Wittke was his wife. The Kirchoff family belonged to an intellectual
community of Konigsberg that was flourishing and being the most
promising of his parents’ children, Gustav was raised with the mindset
that serving the state was really the only open course for him. In the
state of Prussia, University staff and professors were considered civil
servants and so his parents believed that it was the best place for him
since it was where he could put his brains to work to serve his state.
Gustav Kirchoff excelled in school and given his academic aptitude,
his career flowed naturally. He went to school in Konigsberg at the
Albertus University of Konigsberg. It was founded by the first duke of
Prussia, Albert back in 1544. Jacobi and Franz Neumann set up a
mathematics-physics seminar as a joint project in Konigsberg. In this
seminar, Jacobi and Neumann used to teach their students different
research methods. The seminar started in 1833 and Kirchoff attended it
from 1843 to 1846. It was very unfortunate that Jacobi fell ill during
the year 1843 and so it turned out to be Neumann who had had the bigger
influence on Kirchoff.
At that time, Neumann was interested in mathematical physics most of
all and it was at the same time that Kirchhoff began his studies at
Konigsberg. Neumann was then working on electrical inductions. Neumann
had, in fact, just submitted the first of two major papers he wrote on
the subject of electrical induction. This happened in the year 1845
while Kirchoff was his student. At the University of Konigsberg,
Kirchoff was taught by Friedrich Jules Richelot.
During the time he was studying under Neumann, he made the first of
many outstanding research contributions that were related to electrical
current. In 1845, he announced Kirchoff’s laws and they allowed the
calculation of currents, voltages and resistances in electrical circuits
that had multiple loops. This further extended German mathematician
Georg Ohm’s work.
A couple of years later, Gustav Kirchoff’s work would lead to
recognize this error and prod him to come up with a better and keener
understanding of how the theory of electrostatics and electric currents
could be and should be combined.
He graduated from university in the year 1847 and made the move to
Berlin. The conditions were rather poor in the German Confederation at
that time and it proved to be a difficult time. Emotions and tensions
from the citizens were running high and trouble always seemed to be
around the corner. Crop failures and high rates of unemployment also led
to disturbances and discontent within the people. Trouble was also
sparked when news came out that Louis-Philippe had been overthrown by an
1848 uprising in Paris. Not only was there revolution in several German
states but people also took up arms in Berlin. The monarchy was in
trouble with the socialists and the republicans. Fortunately, Kirchoff
was in a privileged position and was unaffected by the events of the
state so he pressed on with his chosen career. Bunsen moved to take a
teaching spot in Breslau and this was where he met Robert Bunsen who
also became his lifelong friend. Bunsen moved to teach at the University
of Heidelberg in 1852 and he made it a point to make arrangements for
Kirchoff to move to Heidelberg to teach as well.
Aside from working with electricity and currents, he also made major
discoveries in the field of chemistry. In the year 1869, Gustav Kirchoff
and Robert Bunsen (developer of the Bunsen burner with help from his
assistant) discovered cesium and rubidium. With the use of a
spectroscope they had invented together, they managed to spot these two
alkali metals that the world had no previous knowledge of. Their
discoveries marked the beginning of a new era, that is, they introduced a
new way to look for new elements. They found that the first 50 elements
found – not counting the ones known since ancient eras – were released
by electrolysis or products of chemical reactions.
Gustav Kirchoff got married to one Clara Richelot who was the
daughter of Friedrich Jules Richelot, his mathematics professor in
Konigsberg. Together, he and Clara had two daughters and three sons but
Clara died in 1869 and he was left to raise his children. This was made
all the more challenging since he had a disability that forced him to
use crutches or a wheelchair most of the time. In 1872, he got married
to Luise Brommel who hailed from Heidelberg.
He had numerous offers from other universities but he was quite happy
and contented with Heidelberg so he turned down all offers. However,
his health continued to fail him and he realized that the experimental
side of the subject that he so loved was becoming impossible for him to
accomplish. In 1875, he made the move to Berlin where he became chair of
mathematical physics. The spot allowed him to teach and do research
without having to carry out any experiments. After he took the position
in Berlin, he came out with his best known treatise which is the
Vorlesungen über mathematische Physik.
He died in 1887 and his final resting place could now be found in St.
Matthaus Kirchoff Cemetary in Berlin. His grave is just a few meters
away from those of the Brothers Grimm.
