Background
Arthur Peter Konig was born on September 13, 1856, in Krefeld, Germany. His father was a teacher.
University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
In 1878 Konig began scientific studies at the University of Bonn.
Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Konig studied at Heidelberg University.
Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Konig studied at Humboldt University of Berlin under Hermann von Helmholtz. He obtained his doctoral degree in 1882.
University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
In 1878 Konig began scientific studies at the University of Bonn.
Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Konig studied at Heidelberg University.
Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Konig studied at Humboldt University of Berlin under Hermann von Helmholtz. He obtained his doctoral degree in 1882.
https://www.amazon.com/Beitr%C3%A4ge-zur-Psychologie-Physiologie-Sinnesorgane/dp/B00375LWHU/?tag=2022091-20
1891
https://www.amazon.com/Vorlesungen-Mathematischen-Principien-Akustik-German/dp/0270447296/?tag=2022091-20
1898
https://www.amazon.com/Einleitung-Vorlesungen-theoretische-Physik-Arthur/dp/1178492362/?tag=2022091-20
1903
Arthur Peter Konig was born on September 13, 1856, in Krefeld, Germany. His father was a teacher.
Konig attended the Realgymnasium in Krefeld; after graduating in 1874, he became a merchant. In 1878 he began scientific studies at the universities of Bonn, Heidelberg, and Berlin. At the latter, he studied under Hermann von Helmholtz. He obtained his doctoral degree in 1882.
Konig became an assistant to Helmholtz in 1882 at the physics institute of the University of Berlin. In 1884 he qualified for lecturing in physics. In 1889 he became a full professor and head of the physics division of the physiological institute of the University of Berlin. Konig devoted himself entirely to physiological optics, especially to psychophysics and the physiology of the sense organs. In 1891, with H. Ebbinghaus, he founded his own journal covering these fields. After the death of Helmholtz, Konig became coeditor of his manuscripts and supervised the second edition of his Handbuch der physiologischen Optik.
Konig was also very active in the editing of periodicals. Beginning in 1889 he was the sole editor of the Verhandlungen der Deutschen physikalischen Gesellschaft of Berlin, and from 1891 to 1901 he edited the Alteren Beitrage, later called Beitrage zur Physiologie der Sinnesorgane.
Konig went down in history as one of the leading representatives of physiological optics. His most famous work, Fundamental sensations and their sensitivity in the spectrum, is an empirical determination of what in fact is the spectral sensitivity of the human rod and cone sensors of vision. His other notable contributions include improvement of the Helmholtz leukoscope and construction of a spectro-photometer, and investigations of the sensitivity of the normal eye for differences in wavelength of light, dependence of the Newton-Grassmann laws of color mixture on light intensity, validity of Fechner's law at different light intensities, brightness of spectral hues at different light intensities, and the similarity between the perceptual sensitivity of the rod cells and the absorption spectrum of the rod photopigment, rhodopsin.
Konig worked on the theory of colors and was a zealous defender of the Young-Helmholtz theory of color perception. He investigated the blending of colors, the brightness distribution of colors in the spectrum, and the significance of visual purple insight. Konig also developed new data in his studies on visual acuity and color blindness. For example, he demonstrated that those who are totally color-blind have no visual perceptions in the center of the retina and hence are blind there. By using the Young- Helmholtz color theory, with its basic perceptions of red, green, and blue, Konig showed that in cases where one of these basic perceptions is lacking, the color confusions of red-blind and green-blind persons can be explained in terms of the normal trichromatic color system. With Conrad Dieterici, Konig investigated the structure of this abnormal, dichromatic color system.
Along with his works on physiological optics, Konig conducted psychophysical studies, particularly on Weber's law. He also considered other experimental and theoretical questions in physics. In the first years of his scientific activity, he worked on galvanic polarization, developed a new method of determining the modulus of elasticity, and, with Franz Richarz, made a new determination of the gravitational constants.
Konig was described as an excellent teacher and experimenter.
Physical Characteristics: Konig suffered from circulatory problems caused by congenital kyphosis.
In 1890 Konig married Laura Kottgen with whom he had a son, Arthur, who became an astronomer.
