Georg Simon Ohm (16.03.1787-6.07.1854) was a German physicist, a corresponding member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences (1839). He was born in Erlangen. He graduated from the University of Erlangen (1811). He taught mathematics and then physics at various gymnasiums. From 1833 he was professor at the Higher Polytechnic School in Nuremberg (rector from 1839), and in 1849 —52 at the University of Munich.
His research concerned electricity, acoustics, optics and crystal optics. In 1826 he discovered experimentally the basic law of the electric circuit, which connects current, voltage and resistance (Ohm's law). In 1827 he derived it theoretically (for a part of a circuit and for a complete circuit) and introduced the concepts of “electromotive force”, “voltage drop” and “conductivity”. In 1830 he carried out the first measurements of the e.m.f. of a current source.
He put forward the idea that sounds have a composite structure. He established (1843) that the ear perceives as a simple tone only a sound produced by a simple sinusoidal oscillation, and that all other sounds are perceived as a fundamental tone and additional tones, the overtones (Ohm's acoustic law).
A Fellow of the Royal Society (1842). The Copley Medal (1841).