252 THE SCIENTIFIC WORK OF GEORGE SIMON OHM. 
to follow an academic career were dashed by hard disappointment 
and he resigned his position as teacher at the gymnasium and retired, 
discouraged, to private life. The cramped position in which he now 
saw himself placed must have been depressing for his spirits. Still 
this period of six years which elapsed until his appointment as pro- 
fessor of physics in the polytechnic school, at Nuremberg, in 1833, was 
not entirely barren for science. In a series of articles, published 
mostly in Schweigger’s Journal, he furnished renewed experimental 
proof of the law discovered by him. We find in these teeming articles 
the law of the branching of currents (Schweigger’s Journal, 1827, vol. 
XLIX); observations on the ‘fluctuations of force,” on the poalariztion 
of electrodes and transition resistance, beside methods for determining 
galvanic resistance and electromotive force. An article from this period 
is especially worthy of notice as a model of experimental investigation, 
entitled ‘‘experiments on the more accurate comprehension of uni-polar 
conductors.” In it he entirely explained, by a complete series of well- 
chosen experiments, the enigmatical phenomena of so-called uni-polar 
conduction. 
The above-mentioned article of Pouillet, in 1837, and the claim made 
in connection with it, finally brought Ohm’s discovery to the attention 
of physicists at home and abroad. Especially in England was its far- 
reaching importance immediately recognized. ‘The Royal Society, at 
its annual meeting of November 30, 1841, conferred upon the unassum- 
ing German scientist the gold medal which Copley had established as 
a prize for the most conspicuous discovery in the domain of exact inves- 
tigation. The medal was accompanied by a formal letter of presenta- 
tion, which points out in strong terms Ohw’s services to galvanism, and 
which is no less an honor to the learned society than to the recipient of 
the prize. Thus Ohm received abroad the tardy recognition which his 
native land had so long withheld. He gave touching expression to 
his gratitude in the dedication of his work “ Contributions to Molecular 
Physics” to the Royal Society of London, which by its words of ap- 
proval had given his courage new strength for continued strife in the 
field of science, weakened as it was by previous discouraging experi- 
ences. 
His creative genius, which seemed to lie fallow during the last years, 
awoke anew. Soon he was successful in a second great venture, this 
time in the field of acoustics, (upon which he had entered in 1839,) in a 
‘¢ Note on Combination Tones.” In his article “On the Definition of 
Tone and a Consequent Theory of the Siren and Similar Tone-Producing 
Apparatus,” he established, in 1843, the law of acoustics also known 
by his name. Inasmuch as this law furnishes the clearest insight into 
the hitherto incomprehensible nature of musical tones, it dominates 
the acoustics of to-day no less completely than does his law of the 
electric current dominate the science of electricity. This law states 
