Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger
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 Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger |
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| Born | April 8, 1779 Erlangen, Ansbach, Germany |
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| Died | September 6, 1857 Halle/Saale, Sachsen, Germany |
| Residence |  Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Field | Physicist, chemist and mathematician |
| Institution | Gymnasium of Bayreuth Polytechnic School of Nuremberg University of Halle |
| Alma mater | University of Erlangen |
| Academic advisor | Georg Friedrich Hildebrandt |
| Notable students | Wilhelm Eduard Weber |
| Known for | First galvanometer |
| Note that Schweigger's doctorate was in the area of classics under Franz August Wolf, but his key scietific mentor was Georg Friedrich Hildebrandt. | |
Johann (Johan) Salomo Christoph Schweigger, (April 8, 1779-September 6, 1857) was a chemist, physicist, and professor of mathematics at the Gymnasium of Bayreuth in 1803, at the Polytechnic School of Nuremberg in 1819, and the University of Halle, Germany, sometime in 1820. The first galvanometer was built in Germany by Johann S. Schweigger in 1820. He used Oersted's discovery of electromagnetism for his invention. Schweigger developed the galvanometer as a tool for measuring the strength and direction of electric current. Schweigger named this instrument in honour of Luigi Galvani. It is the first sensitive instrument for measuring and detecting small amounts of electricity.
Schweigger was born in Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany, on 8 April 1779. He was educated at the University of Erlanger, where he received his PhD degree in 1800. His PhD thesis was on the subject of Homeric Odes. Schweigger's PhD thesis was carried out under the philosopher Franz August Wolf. Schweigger was, however, later converted to a career in science and mathematics by the chemist/physicist Georg Friedrich Hildebrandt, the mathematician/engineer Karl Christian Langsdorff, and the astronomer Johann Tobias Mayer. His major academic career was served at the University of Halle between 1820 and 1857. He started the Journal for Chemistry and Physics (Jahrbuch fur Chemie und Physik) in 1811, and continued coediting it until 1828 (54 volumes) when he changed its title to Annales de chemie et de physique. He published several critiques of Volta's theory of metal contact in animal electricity in the journal.
In 1811 Johann Schweigger proposed name "Chlorine." The halogen Chlorine was discovered by Humphry Davy on July 12, 1810, but it was called "Humphry Davy" that time.
