Yesterday on TIPS, someon asked about hos Helmholtz wenst about
measuring the amount of energy put into and expended by a frog (to prove
conservation of energy in living things). I've done a bit of searching
and consulting over the past day, and it appears at this stage of my
investigation that there was no such experiment conducted by Helmholtz.
His work on conservation of energy (1847 -- see my "Classics in the
History of Psychology" site) was theoretical. There may have been (much)
later experiments done by others along the lines suggested, but I have
not been able to find exact references. Helmholtz's primary work with
frogs involved his measuring the speed of neural transmission, not
conservation of energy. The two ideas may have become confused with each
other (as with many of these popular historical myths), resulting in the
idea of an experiment on conservation of energy involving frogs.
Regards,
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo
Office: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164
Fax: 416-736-5814
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