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| Pioneer of Education in Physics |
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After studying physics at Erlangen and Göttingen, Friedrich Kohlrausch completed his doctorate in Göttingen. After a two-year spell as a lecturer at the Physikalischer Verein (Association of Physics) in Frankfurt/Main, he assumed the position of professor in Göttingen. It was here that he performed the practical experiments that resulted in the book ”Leitfaden der praktischen Physik” (Guidelines to Practical Physics) which was published in 1870 as the first book of its type in Germany.
It contained not only descriptions of experiments, experimental setups and measuring techniques, but also tables of physical quantities. Over the years, Kohlrausch added experiments which met the needs of physical chemistry and electrical technology in particular.
Kohlrausch’s Academic Career
In 1870 Kohlrausch became a professor at the Technical University of Zurich in Switzerland. One year later, he transferred to the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. In 1875 he responded to a call from the University of Würzburg in southern Germany, where he subsequently conducted his experiments on electrical quantity determination and the conductivity of electrolytes. From 1888 he researched and taught at Strasbourg University. He turned down a professorship at the Humboldt University in Berlin in 1894. In 1895 he succeeded Hermann von Helmholtz as President of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR – Imperial Physical Technical Institute), an office which he held until 1905. From 1900 he was also a professor at Humboldt University.
Kohlrausch’ s Goals as a Teacher
- To promote an understanding of the principles of physics through hands-on applications in the laboratory
- To familiarize students of other scientific disciplines with the methods and laws of physics
- To provide students with a foundation for their subsequent experimental research
- To intensify the knowledge of future physics lecturers
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