Chladni, ERNST FLORENS FRIEDRICH

Chladni, ERNST FLORENS FRIEDRICH, founder of the science of acoustics, was born at Wittenberg, November 30, 1756. He studied law in his native place, and also in Leipzig, where, in 1782, he was made Doctor of Laws. Chladni ultimately abandoned juridical studies altogether, devoted his mind to natural science, and being acquainted with music, was led to observe that the laws of sound were by no means so well established as those of other branches of physics. He therefore began to apply his knowledge of mathematics and physics to acoustics, and travelled for ten years (after 1802) through Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Russia, and Denmark, giving lectures on the subject, which were very successful. He died in Breslau, April 4, 1827. Chladni's writings include works on the theory of sound (1787), and on acoustics (1802 and 1817), on meteors (1820), and on the improving of musical instruments. There is a Life by Melde (1866; 2d ed. 1888). See SOUND.