The SI unit of electrical resistance is named after German scientist Georg Simon Ohm. Ohm’s formal schooling was dull and included little science, but his father, a locksmith, had taught himself maths and science and gave his sons an education in those subjects that set them up for university entrance. Ohm angered his father by neglecting his university studies and left without a degree. After a succession of short-term teaching jobs, during which he continued to study privately, he returned to university work and gained a doctorate.
Unable to get a university job, Ohm returned to school teaching and carried out research in a well-equipped school laboratory. In 1827 he published a book that set out a complete mathematical theory of electricity, including what’s now known as Ohm’s law (Box 1). Ohm was frustrated that his book did not lead immediately to a top university job, but at that time electricity was mostly treated non-mathematically and Ohm had not communicated his ideas very clearly, so recognition by other scientists was slow in coming. After another 25 years of temporary teaching jobs he was eventually made Chair of Physics at Munich University.
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