Heinrich Daniel Rühmkorff (;

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as Ruhmkorff; 15 January 1803 – 20 December 1877) was a German instrument maker who commercialised the

induction coil An induction coil or "spark coil" ( archaically known as an inductorium or Ruhmkorff coil after Heinrich Rühmkorff) is a type of transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current (DC) supply. p.98 To create the ...

(often referred to as the Ruhmkorff coil). Ruhmkorff was born in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. He changed the "ü" to "u" in his name when living abroad. After an apprenticeship with a German mechanic, he moved to England. Contemporaneous and extant biographies have made the assertion that he worked with the inventor

Joseph Bramah Joseph Bramah (13 April 1748 – 9 December 1814) was an English inventor and locksmith. He is best known for having improved the flush toilet and inventing the hydraulic press. Along with William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, he can be cons ...

, but this is unlikely since Bramah died in 1814. He may, though, have worked for the Bramah company. In 1855, he set up a shop in Paris, where he gained a reputation for the high quality of his electrical apparatus. Although Ruhmkorff is often credited with the invention of the

, it was in fact invented by

Nicholas Callan Nicholas Joseph Callan (22 December 1799 – 10 January 1864) was an Irish physicist and Catholic priest known for his work on the induction coil. Early life and education He was born and raised in Dundalk, County Louth, where he attended scho ...

in 1836. Ruhmkorff's first coil, which he patented in 1851, utilized long windings of copper wire to achieve a spark of approximately 2 inches (50 mm) in length. In 1857, after examining a greatly improved version made by an American inventor, Edward Samuel Ritchie, Ruhmkorff improved his design (as did other engineers), using glass insulation and other innovations to allow the production of sparks more than 30 centimetres long. Ruhmkorff patented the first version of his induction coil in 1851, and its success was such that in 1858 he becomes the first recipient of the

Volta Prize The Volta Prize () was originally established by Napoleon III during the Second French Empire in 1852 to honor Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist noted for developing the electric battery.John L. Davis. Artisans and savants: The Role of the Aca ...

, 50,000 French franc award by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

for one of the most important discoveries in the application of electricity. He died in Paris in 1877. The Ruhmkorff lamps or 'Ruhmkorff's apparatus' mentioned in several of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's science-fiction novels''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1864), ''From the Earth to the Moon'' (1865), and ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' (1869). relied on induction coils but were not developed by Ruhmkorff.

Asteroid

The

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

15273 Ruhmkorff, discovered in 1991 by E. W. Elst, is named after Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff.

References

External links

with photographs accessed April 12, 2006 *
Spark Museum—Induction coils
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhmkorff, Heinrich Daniel 1803 births 1877 deaths 19th-century German inventors Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery Scientists from Hanover Emigrants from the Kingdom of Hanover Immigrants to the United Kingdom Immigrants to France

Asteroid

References

Further reading

External links