Kirchhoff’s Laws: Laying EE Foundations in Voltage, Current, and Spectroscopy
While most EEs are familiar with Kirchhoff’s Laws of Current and Voltage, Kirchoff's research may have an even deeper impact on modern circuit analysis—and even quantum mechanics—than some may realize. To appreciate where circuits are heading in the future, it is necessary to understand where the foundation was laid. A major contributor to the foundation of electrical engineering is that of Gustav Kirchhoff and his laws of circuitry and spectroscopy. These laws provided a cornerstone for future scholars and engineers to build off, leading us to the technology we have today. Portrait of Gustav Kirchhoff. Image used courtesy of the Library of Congress Kirchhoff was a German physicist who helped develop the fundamentals of circuits, namely principles relating to current, voltage, and resistance. Kirchhoff attended the Albertus University of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). While there, he was taught by Franz Ernst Neumann, a German physicist and mathema...