Georg Ohm
Early Life and Education
Georg Simon Ohm was born on March 16, 1789, in Erlangen, Bavaria, a state in the southern part of Germany. He was born into a Protestant family, his father, Johann Wolfgang Ohm, was a master locksmith, and his mother, Maria Elizabeth Beck, was the daughter of a tailor. Although his parents did not have a formal education, they made great efforts to educate their children.
Ohm received his early education from his father who taught him mathematics to a high level. At the age of 11, Ohm was sent to Erlangen to study at the University of Erlangen. However, he had to leave his studies prematurely in 1805 due to his father's illness. In 1806, he took a position as a private tutor in Switzerland where he stayed for two years.
Career and Contributions to Physics
In 1809, Ohm returned to the University of Erlangen and resumed his mathematical studies. He received his doctorate in 1811 and immediately joined the university as a lecturer. However, due to the lack of opportunities and the low income, he left the university in 1813 to take a position as a mathematics teacher in a school in Gottstadt bei Nydau, Switzerland.
In 1827, Ohm published "Die galvanische Kette, mathematisch bearbeitet" (The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically) where he gave his complete theory of electricity. This work, which became his most famous, contains the now well-known Ohm's Law, which states that the current passing through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points.
In 1833, Ohm was appointed as a professor of physics at the Polytechnic School of Nuremberg in Bavaria. He finally achieved recognition for his work in 1841 when the Royal Society awarded him the Copley Medal for his mathematical description of conduction in circuits. In 1849, he was appointed as the curator of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and he held this position until his death.
Legacy and Impact
Ohm's work significantly influenced the field of electrical engineering and his law became one of the foundational principles of physics. His name has been immortalized in the unit of electrical resistance, the Ohm, symbol Ω, which was named in his honor by the International Electrical Congress in 1881.
Ohm's work was initially received with criticism, however, it was later recognized as fundamental to our understanding of electricity and it laid the groundwork for the mathematical treatment of physics. His contributions to the field of physics and electrical engineering are still recognized and appreciated today.
