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Ideas of Hermann von Helmholtz, by Text

[German, 1821 - 1894, Eventually Professor of Physics at Berlin University.]

1847	On the Conservation of Force

	p.28	20646	Helmholtz used 'energy' to mathematically link heat, light, electricity and magnetism
			Full Idea: Helmholtz provided the requisite mathematical formulation linking heat, light, electricity and magnetism, by treating these phenomena as different manifestations of 'energy'.
			From: report of Hermann von Helmholtz (On the Conservation of Force [1847]) by Peter Watson - Convergence 01 'Human'
			A reaction: I'm increasingly struck by the neglect by philosophers of nature of these amazing developments in 19th century physics, because they prefer the excitement of the latest nuclear physics. There is more philosophical interest in the earlier stages.

	p.246	20973	All forces conserve the sum of kinetic and potential energy
			Full Idea: Helmholtz crucially asserted that all forces conserve the sum of kinetic and potential energy; superficially non-conservative forces like friction are simply macroscopic manifestations of more fundamental forces conserving energy at the micro-level.
			From: report of Hermann von Helmholtz (On the Conservation of Force [1847]) by David Papineau - Thinking about Consciousness App 4.3
			A reaction: Friction had been a problem case, because it appeared not to conserve energy when it slowed movement down.