Gustav Fechner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gustav Fechner
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Gustav Theodor Fechner
19 April 1801 Groß Särchen (near Muskau), Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
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| Died | 18 November 1887 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | German |
| Education | Medizinische Akademie Carl Gustav Carus Leipzig University (PhD, 1835) |
| Known for | Weber–Fechner law |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Experimental psychology |
| Institutions | Leipzig University |
| Thesis | De variis intensitatem vis Galvanicae metiendi methodis [Various methods of measuring Galvanic force intensity] (1835) |
| Notable students | Hermann Lotze |
| Influences | Immanuel Kant |
| Influenced | Gerardus Heymans Wilhelm Wundt Ernst Mach William James Alfred North Whitehead Charles Hartshorne Ernst Weber Sigmund Freud Friedrich Paulsen Ludwig von Bertalanffy |
Gustav Theodor Fechner (born April 19, 1801 – died November 18, 1887) was a German scientist. He was a physicist (someone who studies how the world works), a philosopher (someone who thinks deeply about life), and an experimental psychologist (someone who studies the mind through experiments).
Fechner is known as a founder of experimental psychology. He also created a field called psychophysics. This field looks at how our minds sense things and how those sensations relate to the physical world around us. He showed that there's a special connection between how strongly we feel something (like a sound or a light) and how strong the actual physical thing is. This idea is known as the Weber–Fechner law.
Contents
Early Life and Studies
Gustav Fechner was born in a place called Groß Särchen, near Muskau, in Germany. His father, grandfather, and even a maternal uncle were all pastors (religious leaders). His mother also came from a religious family. However, as he grew older, Fechner's own beliefs changed.
His father, Samuel Traugott Fischer Fechner, was quite open-minded. For example, he made sure his children got vaccinated and taught them Latin. Sadly, his father died suddenly in 1806, which left the family without much money. Gustav and his older brother, Eduard Clemens Fechner, lived with their uncle for a few years before joining their mother and three younger sisters in Dresden.
Fechner first went to school in Sorau (which is now Żary in Poland). In 1817, he began studying medicine in Dresden. A year later, he moved to the University of Leipzig, where he spent the rest of his life. He earned his PhD from Leipzig in 1823.
In 1834, Fechner became a professor of physics at Leipzig University. But in 1839, he hurt his eyes while doing research. He was studying how we see colors and vision by looking at the sun through colored glasses. This caused him a lot of pain, and he had to leave his job.
After he recovered, Fechner started to study the mind and how it connects to the body. He gave talks about his ideas. One day, while resting in bed, he had a big idea about how our mental feelings connect to physical sensations. This idea was very important for the study of psychology, as it showed a way to measure the link between our thoughts and the physical world.
Fechner's Key Discoveries
Fechner wrote many papers on chemistry and physics. He also translated scientific books from French. Besides his serious work, he wrote poems and funny stories using the pen name "Dr. Mises."
Understanding the Mind and Body
Fechner's most important work was a book called Elemente der Psychophysik (which means "Elements of Psychophysics"), published in 1860. He believed that our bodies and minds are different parts of the same reality. His goal was to find an exact mathematical way to describe how they are connected.
His most famous discovery is known as Fechner's Law. It says: "For a sensation to feel like it's getting stronger by the same amount each time, the physical thing causing it (the stimulus) has to get stronger by multiplying, not just adding."
Imagine you're listening to music. To make it sound twice as loud to your ears, you don't just double the speaker's power. You have to increase the power much more than that. This law has been very useful, but it doesn't work perfectly for very quiet or very loud sensations.
The Fechner Color Effect
In 1838, Fechner also studied a strange optical illusion called the Fechner color effect. This is when you see colors in a pattern that is only black and white, especially when it's moving. Later, in 1894, an English scientist named Charles Benham created a spinning top called Benham's top. When it spins, you can see these mysterious colors, helping more people learn about Fechner's discovery.
The Median in Data
In 1878, Fechner wrote about the idea of the median. The median is the middle number in a list of numbers. For example, in the list 1, 5, 10, 12, 15, the median is 10. It's a useful way to find the "average" when some numbers are much higher or lower than others. Fechner is often given credit for bringing the median into the formal study of data.
Seeing Colors with Letters
In 1871, Fechner was one of the first to study synesthesia. This is a condition where a person's senses get mixed up. For example, someone with synesthesia might see a specific color every time they hear a certain sound, or taste a shape. Fechner surveyed 73 people who saw colors when they looked at letters.
Brain and Consciousness
Fechner had an interesting idea about the brain and consciousness (our awareness). He knew that the brain has two halves, connected by a band of fibers called the corpus callosum. Fechner wondered what would happen if this connection was cut. He thought that if the corpus callosum were split, a person might end up with two separate streams of consciousness – like having two minds!
At the time, Fechner believed this idea could never be tested. But he was wrong! In the mid-1900s, scientists like Roger Wolcott Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga worked with patients who had their corpus callosum cut to treat severe epilepsy. They found that Fechner's idea was indeed correct: these patients showed signs of having two separate conscious experiences.
The Golden Section
Fechner was also interested in what makes things look beautiful. He created ten rectangles with different width-to-length ratios. He then asked many people to pick the "best" and "worst" looking rectangle. He found that the rectangles chosen most often as "best" had a ratio of about 0.62. This special ratio is known as the "golden section" or golden ratio. It's believed to be very pleasing to the eye.
However, some people have argued about this experiment. They say that Fechner might have ignored some results that didn't fit his idea.
Fechner's Paradox
In 1861, Fechner noticed something strange. If he looked at a light with a darkened piece of glass over one eye, and then closed that eye, the light seemed to get brighter! This is called Fechner's paradox. It's puzzling because less light is actually entering the eyes. Scientists have studied this phenomenon a lot, even in recent years. It happens because our brain tries to average the brightness seen by both eyes.
Fechner's Impact
Gustav Fechner, along with scientists like Wilhelm Wundt and Hermann von Helmholtz, is considered one of the founders of modern experimental psychology. His biggest contribution was showing that the mind could be measured and studied using mathematics. Before him, thinkers like Immanuel Kant thought this was impossible, meaning psychology couldn't be a true science. Fechner proved them wrong!
Even though his ideas about psychophysics were very influential, not many people followed his broader philosophical ideas. However, many famous thinkers admired his work. Ernst Mach was inspired by his psychophysics. William James praised his book Little Book of Life After Death. Even Sigmund Freud, the famous founder of psychoanalysis, mentioned Fechner in his work.
Fechner had a unique view of the world. He believed that everything, from plants to stars and the entire universe, had a kind of soul or life force. He thought that God was the soul of the universe, and natural laws were just how God's perfection unfolded. In his last book, Fechner contrasted this joyful "daylight view" of the world with the "night view" of materialism, which he saw as dull and lifeless.
Fechner's work continues to inspire scientists today who study how humans perceive the world.
Honors and Recognition
Fechner Crater
In 1970, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on the far side of the moon after Gustav Fechner.
Fechner Day
Since 1985, the International Society for Psychophysics holds an annual conference called Fechner Day. This event is usually held around October 22nd. This date celebrates the day in 1850 when Fechner had his important idea about how to study the mind. Fechner Day happens every year, hosted by a different university or research group.
Family and Later Life
Not much is known about Fechner's later years or the exact details of his death.
Gustav Fechner was the brother of a painter named Eduard Clemens Fechner. He also had a sister, Clementine Wieck Fechner, who became the stepmother of the famous musician Clara Schumann when she married Clara's father.
Images for kids
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Gustav Fechner
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A sample of a Benham's disk
