Helmholtz and the British scientific elite
From force conservation to energy conservation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20316100 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Cahan (University of Nebraska System, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 55-68 |
| Publication date | 2012-03-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0035-9149 • E-ISSN: 1743-0178 |
| Publisher | The Royal Society (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1098/rsnr.2011.0044 |
| OpenAlex | W2011839913 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
This article discusses the close relationship that developed during the 1850s and 1860s between Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–94), one of the leading German scientists during the second half of the nineteenth century, and the British scientific elite generally. It focuses especially on the importance of the law of conservation of energy to both sides of that relationship as the law emerged and became popularized. In presenting this Anglo-German relationship, the article relates Helmholtz's friendships or acquaintanceships with numerous members of the British elite, including William Thomson, John Tyndall, Henry Enfield Roscoe, Michael Faraday, Edward Sabine, Henry Bence Jones, George Gabriel Stokes, James Clerk Maxwell, Peter Guthrie Tait, George Biddell Airy and James Thomson. It suggests that the building of these social relationships helped create a sense of trust between Helmholtz and the British elite that, in turn, eased the revision of the understanding of the law of conservation of force into that of energy and consolidated its acceptance, and that laid the personal groundwork for Helmholtz's future promotion of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory in Germany and for Anglo-German agreements in electrical metrology
Archaeology · Art history · Elite · Epistemology · Faraday cage · George (robot) · German · Helmholtz free energy · Physics · Political science · Politics · Skepticism · Sociology · Australian Indigenous Culture and History · Classics · History · History and Developments in Astronomy · History of Science and Medicine · Law · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.38 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |