Gustav Robert Kirchhoff
KIRCHHOFF WAS A GERMAN PHYSICIST born on March 12, 1824, in Königsberg,
Prussia. His first research was on the conduction of electricity, which led to his
presentation of the laws of closed electric circuits in 1845. Kirchhoff’s current
law and Kirchhoff’s voltage law apply to all electrical circuits and therefore are
fundamentally important in understanding circuit operation. Kirchhoff was the
first to verify that an electrical impulse travelled at the speed of light.
Although these discoveries have immortalized Kirchhoff’s name in electrical
science, he is better known for his work with R. W. Bunsen in which he
made major contributions in the study of spectroscopy and advanced the
research into blackbody radiation.
Kirchhoff died in Berlin on October 17, 1887.