Balmer, Johann Jakob

Johann Jakob Balmer, (born May 1, 1825, Lausen, Switzerland—died March 12, 1898, Basel), Swiss mathematician who discovered a formula basic to the development of atomic theory and the field of atomic spectroscopy.

A secondary-school teacher in Basel from 1859 until his death, Balmer also lectured (1865–90) on geometry at the University of Basel. In 1885 he announced a simple formula representing the wavelengths of the spectral lines of hydrogen—the “Balmer series” (see spectral line series). Why the formula held true, however, was not explained until 1913, when Niels Bohr found that it fit into and supported his theory of discrete energy states within the hydrogen atom.