Hermann Von Helmholtz by Leo KoenigsbergerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I am amazed to find I knew so little of wide impact this German polymath had. Helmholtz was a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science. In physiology and psychology, he is known for his mathematics and fundamental models of the eye, theories of vision, ideas on the visual perception of space, color vision research, and on the sensation of tone, perception of sound, and mechanics of the ear: the mysteries of the malleus, incus, and stapes. In physics, he is known for his theories on the conservation of energy, building on the work of others to consolidate the law of conservation of energy as we know it today. This biography covers his career and successes and family life, too troubled with close deaths, and much correspondence. There is letter from his to his son and from contemporaries like his doctoral student Heinrich Hertz to him.
Also, his travels and impressions of period life in Europe (Helmholtz lived August 31, 1821 – September 8, 1894) as a student, surgeon, researcher, and icon are fascinating. This includes a trip to Canada and the U.S. including correspondence by the septuagenarian Helmholtz reporting back his impressions of a noisy and egalitarian people.
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