Happy IP Birthday

Happy Birthday goes out today to Georg Ohm who was born in 1789. You may well wonder what significance Georg Ohm had in science but ask any Electrical Engineer as they used the law that bears his name in every class on circuit design from their freshman year until they graduate. Ohm's Law holds that the flow of electrical current through a conductor is directly proportional to the electrical potential. His name is also used as a unit of resistance. Georg was born in Germany and both of his parents lacked formal education. However his father, a locksmith, had educated himself in math, physics, and chemistry and taught those subject to Georg Ohm. At the age of 17 Georg Ohm began to teach mathematics at a high school. He wanted to advance his study of mathematics by attending university but was discouraged from doing so by his advisor who recommended that he start of program of self study. For the next four years Georg Ohm studied on his own and when when finally started his formal studies he was able to receive a degree in mathematics in just one year! After graduation he worked at various schools until he received a teaching position at a Jesuit school at the age of 28. There he began his experiments in electricity and at the age of 38 published his theory of electricity that became known as “Ohm’s Law”. At first his publication was heavily criticized as his approach of using experiments to establish scientific principles, now widely accepted, was considered nonconformist. Georg Ohm passed away at the age of 65. During his life he published papers and books in the fields of electricity, physics, and mathematics and obtained memberships in the highly regarded Royal Society and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Although he passed away over 150 years ago his law is still taught to tens of thousands of engineering students around the world each year.

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