Ludimar Hermann facts for kids
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Ludimar Hermann (born October 31, 1838, died June 5, 1914) was a smart German scientist. He studied how our bodies work (this is called physiology) and how we make sounds when we speak (this is called phonetics).
He used Thomas Edison's amazing new invention, the phonograph, to study how we make different vowel sounds. He also created the important word formant, which scientists still use today to talk about speech sounds. You might even know his name from the Hermann Grid, a cool optical illusion he was the first to write about!
Studying the Human Body
Ludimar Hermann was born in Berlin. Besides his work with speech, he was a very important scientist who studied the human body. He helped us understand how muscles work.
Hermann showed that the outside of a healthy muscle has the same electrical charge everywhere. His discoveries were super important for creating the electrocardiograph. This is a machine doctors use today to check your heart's electrical activity.
He was also the first to explain how our bodies break down food. He showed that our digestive process uses a chemical reaction to turn proteins into the basic materials our cells need.
Hermann passed away in Königsberg. People remember him for his great skill in building and using special equipment. This helped him make accurate measurements for his scientific problems.
Exploring Speech Sounds
In his work on voices and speech, Hermann used special photography. He would take pictures of the tiny grooves on a phonograph record. Then, he would make these pictures much bigger. This allowed him to actually see how speech sounds looked on the record.
Through his studies, he found out something very important. He learned that the way air moves through your mouth when you speak changes the sounds from your voice box (called the larynx). This is how we make different vowel sounds.
