Makers of Electricity

by Brother Potamian; James J. Walsh

In spite of his unfortunate circumstances, which would ordinarily be thought quite enough to keep him from serious work until he was settled in a position more suited to his tastes, he devoted himself to the writing of his first book during this time, and it was published by Enke, in Erlangen, in the spring of 1817. Its title was, "Outlines of the Study of Geometry as a Means of Intellectual Culture." It comprised nearly two hundred pages, and gives the best possible insight into the ability and intelligence of the author, then a young man of only twenty-eight. As a sort of appendix, he gives a short sketch of his father, evidently introduced, not quite so much for the purpose of filially confessing his obligations to the old locksmith mathematician, nor with the idea of repaying some of his immeasurable debt for all the opportunities which the sacrifices of paternal affection had brought into the life of his sons, as to emphasize the excellent educational influence which his father's mathematical training had had upon his boys, and thus prove his thesis as to the value of mathematical studies in education. Few filial tributes were ever more deserved or given more convincingly or with less suggestion of the conventional attitude of son to father.

Now that mathematics has come to occupy probably even a less prominent place in education than it did in Ohm's time, though the burden of his complaint with regard to educational methods was that geometry was not used as a daily developmental subject as much as it should be, it may be interesting to recall some of the reasons which he advanced for urging its greater employment as an instrument for mental training. He thought that rational geometry should occupy a place of honor among our means of education. Its quality as a mode of pure reasoning, though so closely related to the senses, made easy the transition from sensation to thought, which is such an important element in education; while its eminently simple character, though combined with definite demands upon the constructive faculties, made it appropriate in a high degree for the education of the young out of the field of merely imitative use of the intellect, into that of independent thinking and following out of ideas. "Geometry," says Ohm, "when properly taught, not with the fruitless drilling usually employed in teaching it, but in such ways as to secure deep personal attention, must take rank above all other branches of education, in enabling the student to break down the barrier which separates mere understanding from personal investigation. It forces a man whose thoughts were, up to this time, only the repetition of others' thoughts, to think for himself and to light for himself in his own mind the torches which enable him to see things clearly for himself, and not merely in the dimness of the half light that is thrown on them by the explanations of others."

Geometrical methods always had a special fascination for Ohm, and practically all of his books and writings bear the impress of that close dependence of all parts on one another, that absolutely logical connection so characteristic of geometric accuracy of thought. His was the sort of mind likely to be benefited by mathematical training. Such minds are, however, comparatively few, for most men are not rational in any sense of the word, that would make them dependent on logical reasoning. Perhaps it is as well that they are not, for many of those lacking in logic or mathematical accuracy of thought and absoluteness of conclusion, still continue to accomplish much in the world of thought and do much valuable planning for the complexities of human affairs, where strict logic will not always solve the intricate yet incomplete problems that present themselves in human relations, where, indeed, individual unknown factors often make any but an approximate solution impossible.

The opinions of the critics as to Ohm's "Outlines of Geometry" were, as might be easily anticipated, not all flattering, since only a few of the critics were able to place themselves on the ideal standpoint of mathematical subjectivity from which he had written his book. King Frederick William III., of Prussia, is said to have read it with much interest, however, and the royal pleasure doubtless drew attention to Ohm's work, and may have contributed to the fact that, shortly after its publication, in September, 1817, Ohm was invited by the Royal Consistory of Cologne to take the position of head professor of mathematics and physics in the gymnasium of that city. This post was not only honorable, it was also highly remunerative, at least from the standpoint of teachers' wages as they were at that time, and Ohm eagerly accepted the position.

Lamont, who was the director of the Royal Observatory at Munich, has written a memorial of Ohm which contains much valuable information. The body of it is an address delivered at a meeting of the Faculty of the University of Munich in honor of Thaddeus Siber and George Simon Ohm, but its value has been much enhanced by notes added before publication. Siber was a Benedictine who was professor in the philosophical department at Munich, and died the same year as Ohm. Lamont says that he received his information as to intimate details of Ohm's life from his brother, Prof. Martin Ohm, of Berlin. His sketch is, therefore, absolutely authoritative. Lamont says with regard to this period of teaching at Cologne: "Ohm's first position of importance, in any way worthy of his talents, was the professorship of mathematics at the large Jesuit gymnasium in Cologne, in 1817, where the special gift that he possessed, of making the study of mathematics not only comprehensible but attractive to boys, brought him success and recognition."

For nearly ten years Ohm had the opportunity to put into practice in this Jesuit gymnasium of the Rhineland, the principles which he had so much at heart, for he was apparently given the full freedom of his department of teaching. He succeeded so well that he received wide and hearty recognition for his work. The mathematical studies of the Cologne gymnasium stood higher than had ever been the case before, and this was all Ohm's work. In the years before his teaching in the Rhenish city, those who were distinguished in mathematics at the University of Bonn had not come, as a rule, from Cologne, but from other places; but now nearly all the mathematical prize-takers of Bonn came from among Ohm's students, and the best of the candidates for teaching positions in physics and mathematics had also, as a rule, had the advantages of his training.

Among the best of his scholars at this time was the afterwards well-known mathematician, Lejeune-Dirichlet, who taught in Berlin with Jacobi and Steiner and succeeded Gauss in Göttingen. Another of his most distinguished pupils was the astronomer Heis, who occupied a modest position at the Munster Academy, but whose merits were above the post which he occupied, and who was distinguished for the excellency of his original work and his ability as a mathematician. One very interesting fact with regard to Ohm's teaching, was that he was successful in catching and holding the interest not only of those of his students who were later to specialize in mathematics, but also of those who took up mathematics only as a subject for mental development, that was to be applied to other purposes later in life, and who found Ohm's teaching of the greatest possible service. Among these, the well-known German literary man, Jacob Venedey, of Cologne, has expressed his affection and gratitude for his old teacher in a very striking way in his sketch of the cathedral at Cologne, written in the banishment that came to so many vigorous German thinkers after the failure of the revolution of '48. In sending a copy of this to Ohm, Venedey says: "Honored Sir:—It will perhaps be a source of wonder to you that a student who apparently learned so little from you and your colleagues that he must now earn his bread by writing, should continue to cherish for you the liveliest gratitude. It is not the fault of mathematics that only the dimmest recollection of them remains with me. I shall never forget the personality of my professor, however, nor his ways and methods of teaching. I frequently recount your way with us boys, and I have the liveliest remembrance of your influence as a teacher. There are seldom weeks, there never is a month, when I fail to recall you. This is no mere compliment that I am paying to you, since I know you too well to think that flattery would mean anything to you, as it would be unworthy of you, and I for my part am not one of those who like to bandy compliments. I have often wished to meet you again, and a hundred times I thought that I saw you because some one at a distance had something that recalled you. I may say to you that you accomplished something for me in those days of teaching that I would not have been able to accomplish for myself. I can only think of you, then, with the highest feelings of reverence approaching what might well be called love. It will be a happy day, indeed, for me if I am ever in a position to make an hour of existence happier for you in any way."

While Ohm so zealously continued his instruction in both the upper classes of the gymnasium, he never lost from sight that higher aim of original research and investigation to which his genius disposed him.

His choice of a subject for original investigation wavered for a long time between mathematics and physics, but, as he himself declared, his experience having shown him that authority was prone to play a large role in mathematics, while the field was more open for personal research and observation in physics, he resolved to take up that department for his special studies, consoled by the idea that physics cannot be properly pursued without mathematics. Looking around to select a subject that would serve as a striking preface to his work in this department, though resolved at the same time to avoid one where he would be without rivalry, he found it all ready to his hand in what one of his contemporaries called the enigmatic phenomena of the galvanic current. This was to prove a fortunate selection, indeed, both for himself and the opportunity afforded his genius as well as for the science of electricity itself.

He then began a series of investigations, always experimental in character, and with the mathematical explanations of the phenomena observed carefully worked out. Accounts of these studies appeared from time to time in the year-book for Chemistry and Physics, issued by Schweigger. After some ten years, these were collected together, or at least the principal portions of them, and published in the second half of the year-book for the year 1826. The apparatus for his experiments was fortunately at command in the gymnasium at Cologne, but without his mechanical skill, obtained from his experience as a locksmith when a boy, it would have been impossible so to vary his experiments and modify his instruments as to bring out many of the phenomena that he succeeded in demonstrating. Nearly all of the great discoverers in science have been handy men possessed of mechanical skill, and this is as true for medicine, as I have shown in "Makers of Modern Medicine,"[24] though it might perhaps not be expected, as it is here in electricity, where it seems very natural.