Johann Christian Poggendorff

Johann Christian Poggendorff
Born(1796-12-29)29 December 1796
Hamburg
Died24 January 1877(1877-01-24) (aged 80)
Berlin, German Empire
Known forPoggendorff cell
Poggendorff illusion
Mirror galvanometer
Potentiometer
FamilyValentin Rose (son in-law)

Johann Christian Poggendorff (29 December 1796 – 24 January 1877), was a German physicist born in Hamburg. By far the greater and more important part of his work related to electricity and magnetism.[1] Poggendorff is known for his electrostatic motor which is analogous to Wilhelm Holtz's electrostatic machine. In 1841 he described the use of the potentiometer for measurement of electrical potentials without current draw.[2]

  1. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  2. ^ http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Electrical_Measurements/Potentiometer/Potentiometer.html Potentiometer, retrieved 2010 Nov 2