STUDENT LIFE AND EARLY MANHOOD 



almost impossible, and it is open to the objection, that 

 it would render each chapter a somewhat unsatis- 

 factory resume of the science, without making us 

 acquainted with the man. We prefer, therefore, in 

 the following chapters to trace his career, as far as 

 possible, by his works, as these were given to the 

 world from his various spheres of activity. He spent 

 his life in Berlin from 1842 to 1847, when he became, 

 at the age of twenty-nine, Professor of Physiology in ' 

 Konigsberg ; he was in Konigsberg from 1849 to 

 1856, when, in his thirty-fifth year, he was removed 

 to the Chair of Physiology in Bonn ; this he held 

 till 1859, when, in his thirty-eighth year, he became 

 Professor of Physiology in Heidelberg ; here he re- 

 mained till 1871, when he was called to occupy the 

 Chair of Physics in Berlin in his fiftieth year ; and 

 this position he held until his death in 1894. It will 

 give, we think, the best idea of the man to endeavour 

 to cluster his discoveries round the centres where they 

 were made. Thus we will see how his mind swung 

 from one subject to another, and how his powers 

 matured until he became a giant among his fellows. 

 The method will also enable us to appreciate the 

 value of his contributions to science with reference 

 to the time and circumstances in which they were 

 made. We will also see that while he was a master"^ 

 in medicine he was something more, and that at 

 least seven sciences will hereafter claim Helmholtz 

 as one of their most distinguished investigators. 



