Georg Wilhelm Richmann (; – ) was a Russian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

origin who did pioneering work on electricity, atmospheric electricity, and calorimetry. He died by electrocution in St. Petersburg when struck by apparent

ball lightning Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as Luminosity, luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is repor ...

produced by an experiment attempting to ground the electrical discharge from a storm.

Early life and education

Richmann was born in the city of Pernau in

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

(now

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

). Richmann's father died of plague before he was born, and his mother remarried. In his early years he studied in Reval (now Estonia); later he studied in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

at the universities of Halle and

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

Career

After his education, Richmann spent the rest of his life as a professor of physics at the university in St. Petersburg and a center of scientific research. There he dealt with problems of

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

and with investigations of

electrical phenomena This is a list of electrical phenomena. Electrical phenomena are a somewhat arbitrary division of electromagnetic phenomenon, electromagnetic phenomena. Some examples are: *Atmospheric electricity *Biefeld–Brown effect — Thought by the pe ...

. He became famous for establishing the first general equation for calorimetric calculations. This law was later called

Richmann's law Richmann's law, sometimes referred to as Richmann's rule, Richmann's mixing rule, Richmann's rule of mixture or Richmann's law of mixture, is a physical law for calculating the mixing temperature when pooling multiple bodies. It is named after the B ...

in his honor. Richmann also became famous for his investigations on thunderstorm electricity, which led to his tragic death in 1753. Richmann also worked as a tutor to the children of Count Andrei Osterman. Richmann translated

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

's ''Essay on Man'' into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

from French, which appeared in 1741. In that year, he was also elected a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Accidental death

Richmann was electrocuted in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

on 6 August 1753 (

Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...

, 26 July 1753) while "trying to quantify the response of an insulated rod to a nearby storm." He is said to have been attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences when he heard thunder, whereupon he ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity. While the experiment was underway, a discharge reported to have been

appeared and collided with Richmann's head leaving him with a red spot on his forehead, his left shoe blown open, and parts of his clothes singed. The ball lightning arising from the apparatus was the cause of his death. An explosion followed "like that of a small Cannon" that knocked the engraver out, split the room's door frame, and tore the door off its hinges.Some but not all of the preceding details appear in Ronald W. Clarke's presentation of a description by Benjamin Franklin of the accident. See This incident represents the first documented case of ball lightning, and Richmann appears to be the first person in history to have lost his life while conducting electrical experiments. Mort du Richmann

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richmann, Georg Wilhelm 1711 births 1753 deaths People from Pärnu People from Swedish Livonia Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Physicists from the Russian Empire Inventors from the Russian Empire Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Deaths from lightning strikes University of Halle alumni University of Jena alumni Accidental deaths in the Russian Empire Inventors killed by their own invention