Talk:Hermann von Helmholtz

message: Dear prospective editors, you might note that the use of the relative pronoun in the first sentence allows for ambiguity: it is logically unclear whether Helmholtz or his father is the intended subject of the subordinate clause.
I'm not sure where to write this, but the image in the article isn't one of a helmholtz-resonator. I've got the original book "Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik" and can provide an image of a resonator. But I acutually don't have time to scan it. The Picture in this article is of a part of the "apparatus for synthesizing vowels" (don't know how to call it in english). the small cylinder in front of the tuning fork is a resonator, but not in the original sense as an analytical instrument, it's for amplifying the sound of the fork. I'm only having a german account, so I cant log in here. If you have questions regarding helmholtz' work, feel free to contact me. -> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:Arminhempel  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.226.65.29 (talk) 11:38, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Comment

message: Helmholtz free energy is presumably named for Helmholtz rather than a direct innovation of his, but who named it so and when? The honour would fit in with the wide supposition that he was first to propound the heat death of the universe but a citation would be nice. Cutler 11:55, July 13, 2005 (UTC)
:As to heat death, I wrote up the history here: Heat death of the universe#Origins of idea; as to origin of the term "Helmholtz free energy", it seems to be Edward Guggenheim who first used the phrase, in his 1933 textbook Modern Thermodynamics by the Methods of Willard Gibbs, where he says: 
::We shall call F the "Helmholtz free energy" and G the "Gibbs free energy". (pg. 11)
:The term "free energy" was used by Helmholtz in 1882 and next mention of "Helmholtz free energy" (that I can find) is found in the index of Gilbert Lewis and Merle Randall's Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances (1923), but they use the phrase "free energy" throughout the book. --Sadi Carnot 14:05, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Heat death and free energy

message: As the article states already HvH is considered one of the most eminent scientific figures in the 19th century. I think he deserves a larger article. Maybe there is a chance to apply for one of the community collaborations, e.g. Article Creation and Improvement Drive? Good luck! --Ben  T/C  16:56, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd vote for it. —Keenan Pepper 19:57, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Featured status 

message: This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 04:06, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  WikiProject class rating

message: It is a pity that "On the Perception of Tone" and Helmoltz's related work gets such a brief mention. This work is arguably the foundation of the modern study of musical acoustics, and later researchers would refer to it. It is a fascinating book. Helmholtz made an electro-magnetic voice synthesiser in the mid 19th century!
I would also suggest that, though it is related to his work on human physiology, as related to the hearing mechanism, this topic might belong in its own section. Just a thought.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Boynstye (talk • contribs) 01:13, 11 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Musical acoustics

message: I think that it needs significant improvements. He was one of the giants of the 19-th century.
TomyDuby (talk) 12:55, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Helmhotz's Biography 

message: This recent addition about Bell being inspired to invent the telephone from Helmholtz' work is a bit thin.  The source does not exactly say that, it says that Bell misunderstood the German text as saying that sound could be transmitted over wires, something Helmholtz had not actually said.  So Bell was inspired by his inability to read German properly, rather than anything Helmholtz did.  Also, according to the source, this was the inspiration for Bell to continue experimenting with electricity, it does not say it led in any way to the telephone, although obviously there is a connection.  My sources say the harmonic telegraph was the inspiration for the telephone, and this source agrees.  There is some unwarranted synthesis going on here that needs removing from the article. SpinningSpark 02:03, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Here's a source that predates the PBS special: .  It looks like he got his ideas from the figures, not from misreading the text (which he couldn't read).  Dicklyon (talk) 03:00, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: No quarrel with any of this.  I'm not familiar with the Bell story, and just wanted to fact-check and get a citation in place.  I do think the distinction between work with electricity and the telephone (electronic sound transmission) is an arbitrary one.  But would be happy to see this part improved if someone cares to do so.Oblivy (talk) 08:34, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, the distinction is arbitrary.  Where I really feel this article is misleading is that it glosses over the fact the Bell completely failed to duplicate what he though was Helmholtz' result (because Helmholtz hadn't done it) and leaves the reader with the impression that the telephone is somehow based on Helmholtz' work.  I will have a try at sorting this out, feel free to adjust my edit, we don't really want an article on Helmholtz to take too much of a detour into Bell. SpinningSpark 17:42, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alexander Graham Bell 

message: Alexander j. Ellis' translation of On the Sensation of Tone.. was first published i 1875 not 1885. I can't find a reliable source, to correct all the information in the parenthesis, but I'm holding the first edition in my hand, and its is from 1875 published by Longmans, Green, and Co. and printed by Spottiswoode and Co., London  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Magnuskaslov (talk • contribs) 17:47, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I fixed it, but didn't bother trying to find the months. Dicklyon (talk) 18:05, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Factual error 

message: it seems appropriate to call him one, has anybody reservations about that ?
Paranoid Android1208 (talk) 12:53, 9 June 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Designation as a polymath 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Since this edit was reverted once before, I am here providing an explanation of what I thought would be a minor and uncontroversial correction. Please do not revert it again without addressing my objection.
Rationale 1: The whole section is in past tense. To put one verb in the middle of the section in present tense is arbitrary and makes no sense.
Rationale 2: Helmholtz's work occurred in the past. Whatever influenced Helmholtz's work did so in the past.
Dayirmiter (talk) 07:29, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Discussion of historical tense. 

message: One quotation is listed under this section on the article; is it appropriate to remove it, reformat the page and include it elsewhere in some way, or to link to WikiQuotes? Usually when Wikipedia articles include quotations in their body, they are formatted in such a way that visually differentiates it from the rest of the information. SpiralSource (talk) :) :) SpiralSource (talk) 01:29, 30 November 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pedantry - on the inclusion of "quotations" 

message: The article says "His theory of accomodation went unchallenged until the final decade of the twentieth century" with no reference. In the accommodation article there is no mention of Helmholtz or a revision in theory. The statement should be removed unless supported. Rgdboer (talk) 18:34, 13 March 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Accommodation