MEMOIR OF KTRCHHOFF. 533 



all iiKMi are alike; tliai in all classes ol' men are iiulividiials that have 

 not only luatei'lal, but also spiritual wants. Not all sciences that are 

 knowu were developed by scientists alone/' etc. Many a one would 

 have simply laid aside the workman's letter. Kirchhofl" however wrote 

 to him a well-considered reply, as the minute shows, where amon<j;' 

 other things we read : '• That there are such limits to our knowledge of 

 nature, must be borne with patience by every sound mind whether he 

 be a scientist or a workman. I can only advise you to leave oflt' all 

 impossible aspirations and trying to conceive things that are beyond 

 conception. This requires a struggle, but a struggle is the lot of many 

 men of all professions. The best help is to devote one's self to the task 

 which has fallen to one's lot, and to fulfill the duties of the position in 

 "which one is placed." And, in fact, Kirchhoff fulfil led himself the duties 

 of his position. He was really "the truly noble mind, free from all 

 egotistic sham," the workman was looking for. As for us, we are only 

 inclined to ask which to admire more, the greatness of his mind or the 

 strength of his will that lifted him so high above 



"The vulgar, wliicli we all, alas, obey!" 



We have tried to i)ortray Kirchhoff as he appeared to us, his contem- 

 poraries, as a man and as a teaiSier. His works will outlive him and 

 will be ai)preciated according to their merit ouly by posterity. To us, 

 his pupils, falls the task, even if we do not belong to physics, to make 

 apparent what science owes to him. One is apt in such cases to lay 

 the chief stress ou the practical results of his works, to adduce their 

 iutiuence ou technics and industry. While speaking of Kirchhoff's 

 works one must however keep free from such a bias, lirst because 

 the chief value of many of his papers lies not in the application but 

 in the method: secondly such considerations would have been antipa- 

 thetic to his own mind. Kirchhoff never asked himself "What is the 

 use of thy brooding and searching?" What he had to expound he 

 expounded in tlie way best suited to the thing itself, and in as general 

 a manner as possible, without paying any attention to accessory pur- 

 poses. "I think I have found such and such a thing, and T take the 

 liberty of giving a demonstration of it in what follows." Such is the 

 beginning of the most of his papers. His writings are less voluminous 

 than might have been expected. His forty i)apers — product of as 

 many years — ar(^ collected into a volume of moderate dimensions. He 

 published besides, a report on his " Researches on the solar si>ectr^um 

 and the spectra of the chemical elements" and a volume of lectures 

 on mechanics, the latter his most mature and perfect work. 



What an immense amount of brain work is here comiensed into the 

 smallest space possible! Kirchhoff's style, like his delivery, was a 

 model of the most clear and concise diction, absolutely classical in the 

 subject concerned. The words stand as if hewn in stone, each one at 

 its i)lace, the logical comprehension of each duly considered ; we find 

 here condensed into a few lines what wouhl have taken others pages to 



