Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824–87)

German physicist. Professor extraordinarius, Breslau, 1850–4; Heidelberg, 1854–75. Professor of theoretical physics, Berlin, 1875–86. Made major contributions to the study of electromagnetic radiation and electrical currents. A close friend of Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen; the two collaborated in laying the foundation of the method of spectral analysis, 1857–63.