A D V E N T U R E S in C Y B E R S O U N DGeorg Simon Ohm : 1787 - 1854
The German physicist Georg Simon Ohm, b. Mar. 16, 1789, d. July 6, 1854, for whom the unit of electrical resistance, the ohm, was named, determined (1826) Ohm's law, the relationship between the flow of current, the voltage, and the resistance in a closed circuit Ohm's scientific contemporaries were slow to recognize his achievement, failing to realize how closely his conclusions were derived from careful experimental work and especially how his discovery ordered vast quantities of existing experimental data. For most of his life Ohm held only indifferent, poorly paid teaching jobs, but in 1852 he was given the chair of physics at the University of Munich. J. Z. Fullmer Source: The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
Although Georg Simon Ohm discovered one of the most fundamental laws of current electricity, he was virtually ignored for most of his life by scientists in his own country - Germany. Born in Erlangen, Bavaria, Ohm's ambition was to become a scientist and to work at one of the great German Universities. Ohms' father was a mechanical engineer and taught him basic practical skills that later proved useful. Ohm became professor of mathematics at the Jesuit College of Cologne in 1817. Between 1825 and 1827, he produced a mathematical description of conduction in circuits modelled on Fourier's study of heat conduction. Ohm's main interest however was current electricity, recently advanced by Alessandro Volta's invention of the battery. For his experiments, he made his own metal wire, producing a range of thicknesses and lengths of remarkably consistent quality. What is now known as Ohm's Law appears in Die Galvanische Kette, Mathematisch Bearbeitet, 1827. He was able to show from his experiments that there was a simple relationship between resistance, current and voltage. However Ohm was afraid that his purely experimental basis of his work would undermine the importance of his discovery. He tried to state his law theoretically but his rambling mathematical proofs made him an object of ridicule. His work in fact was received with so little enthusiasm that Ohm's feelings were hurt and he resigned his position at Cologne. He accepted a position at Nüremberg in 1833 and his work was eventually recognised by the Royal Society with its award of the Copley Medal in 1841. In 1842, the Royal Society in London recognized the signifance of his discovery and admitted him as a member. In 1849, just five years before his death, Ohm's lifelong dream was realized when he was given a professorship at the University of Munich. The measure of resistance is now called the ohm. The ohm, is the unit of electrical resistance, which is equal to that of a conductor in which a current of one ampere is produced by a potential of one volt across its terminals.
Georg Simon Ohm, a professor at the Jesuit College in Cologne, Germany, develops the law of electrical resistance. Ohm's Law states that the strength of an unvarying electric current is directly proportional to the electromotive force E, and inversely proportional to the resistance R of the circuit concerned. Ohm's findings have a significant impact on existing and future research in electricity. Be that as it may, the publication of his discovery meets a lukewarm reception at best. Bitterly, Ohm resigns his position at the college. Although he spends much of his career in ill-paying, inconsequential teaching posts, Ohm begins to achieve the recognition he deserves when, in 1841, he is awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London, and is offered a membership the following year. In addition, he is awarded the chair of physics at the University of Munich in 1852. And of course the unit measuring electrical resistance, the ohm, is named after him.
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