Julius Robert von Mayer

Julius Robert von Mayer (November 25, 1814 – March 20, 1878) was a German physician and physicist. He described the vital chemical process now referred to as oxidation as the primary source of energy for any living creature in 1842.

Life

Mayer grew up in Heilbronn, the son of a pharmacist. After completing his Abitur, he studied medicine at the University of Tübingen, where he was a member of the Corps Guestphalia, a German Student Corps. In 1838 he attained his doctorate as well as passing the Staatsexamen. After a stay in Paris (1839/40) he left as a ship's physician on a Dutch three-mast sailing ship for a journey to Jakarta.

Related Topics:
Heilbronn - Pharmacist - Abitur - Medicine - University of Tübingen - German Student Corps - 1838 - Doctorate - Staatsexamen - Paris - 1839 - 40 - Physician - Dutch - Sailing ship - Jakarta

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Although he had hardly been interested up to the start of this journey in physical phenomena, his observation that storm-whipped waves are warmer than the calm sea sparked deep thinking about the laws of nature, in particular about the physical phenomenon of warmth and the question: whether the directly developed heat alone or whether the sum of the amounts of heat developed in direct and indirect ways contributes to the temperature. After his return in February 1841 Mayer dedicated all its effors to the solution of this problem.

Related Topics:
Physical phenomena - Storm - Waves - Sea - Laws of nature - Temperature

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In 1841 he settled in Heilbronn and married.

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