Escutcheons of Science
 Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)

Hermann von  Helmholtz  (1821-1894)

[ The above copyrighted picture is reproduced here by permission:   © 2007 Jochen Wilke. ]
German blazon courtesy of Bernhard Peter.

Quarterly. [1 & 4]  Or.  [2 & 3]  Gules, an iron helm Proper.
On a bend Argent overall, three salamanders Vert.

Crest:   Out of a coronet [Or] a lion Argent holding the helm of the arms.
Dexter mantling Sable and Or.  Sinister mantling Gules and Argent,

Von G. und R. quadriert mit w. mit 3 gr. Molchen belegten Schrägrechtsbalken,
beseitet in den r. Feldern von einem eisernen Turnierhelm.
HZ wachsender w. Löwe, einen der Helme in den Vorderpranken haltend.
HD schwarz-gold / rot-silbern

 Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)  
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)

Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a major figure of 19th-century science.  One of his most fundamental contributions was to clarify the first principle of thermodynamics  (conservation of energy).  He is also credited with the idea (1854) that noncreasing entropy would ultimately bring about the heat death of the Universe.

 Sir William Thomson
 (Lord Kelvin) 1824-1907

Before the discovery of radioactivity and the advent of nuclear physics, Helmholtz and Kelvin (1824-1907) suggested that the source of the heat generated by the Sun might be due to a slow gravitational contraction in a classical process now known as Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction.  This was advocated in a famous article published in 1862 by Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)  entitled  The Age of the Sun's Heat  (doc, pdf).

B&W arms

Biography   |   Music (1862)   |   Helmholtz Resonance   |   Helmholtz Coil   |   Helmholtz Free Energy   |   Helmholtz Equation   |   Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction


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