Philipp von Jolly
Johann Philipp Gustav von Jolly was a German experimental physicist. He measured gravitational acceleration with precision weights and also worked on osmosis. He also designed several tools like the Jolly balance in 1864, a special eudiometer in 1878, as well as his own air pump and Jolly air thermometer.
He is the father of neurologist Friedrich Jolly.
Life
Johann Phillip Gustav Jolly was born in Mannheim, as the son of merchant and Marie Eleonore Jolly, who came originally from France. Politician Julius Jolly was Philipp's brother.His primary education was in Mannheim. Jolly attended joined Heidelberg University in 1829, to study physics and mathematics. During his studies he worked in Vienna as a mechanician for factories and mining plants, before returning back to Heidelberg in 1834, where he received his PhD. After his studies, he was appointed professor of mathematics in 1839 and professor of physics in 1846, in Heidelberg.
He moved to the University of Munich in 1854, where he took the position once held by Georg Simon Ohm. He was knighted in 1854.
Jolly died in Munich.
Relationship with other scientists
Von Jolly was initially skeptical of Julius von Mayer's theory on the mechanical equivalent of heat. Ernst Mach recalled a time when von Mayer was looking for advice, but Jolly said that if von Meyer's theory was right "then water should be warmed by merely shaking it." Von Meyer immediately left the room without saying a word, and after a few weeks, he surprised von Jolly in his office by shouting "and so it is!".One of Jolly's students at the University of Munich was Max Planck, whom he advised in 1878 not to go into theoretical physics. Nevertheless, Planck's later work led to the discovery of quantum mechanics. Later in life Planck reported:
Philipp Carl earned his doctorate in 1860 in Munich, supervised by von Jolly and Johann von Lamont.