Julius von Mayer
| Julius Robert von Mayer | |
|---|---|
Julius Robert von Mayer
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| Born | November 25, 1814 Heilbronn |
| Died | March 20, 1878 (aged 63) Heilbronn |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Fields | Physics |
| Alma mater | University of Tübingen |
| Known for | Mayer's Reagent |
| Influenced | William Thomson |
| Notable awards | Copley Medal (1871) |
Julius Robert Mayer (November 25, 1814 – March 20, 1878) was a German physician, chemist and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics. He is best known for enunciating in 1841 one of the original statements of the conservation of energy or what is now known as one of the first versions of the first law of thermodynamics, namely that "energy can be neither created nor destroyed". In 1842, Mayer described the vital chemical process now referred to as oxidation as the primary source of energy for any living creature. His achievements were overlooked and priority for the discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat was attributed to James Joule in the following year. He also proposed that plants convert light into chemical energy.
Von Mayer was born on November 25, 1814 in Heilbronn, Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg, modern day Germany), the son of a pharmacist. He grew up in Heilbronn. 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. During 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.
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